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COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 




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THE MORAL 
DIGNITY OF BAPTISM 



J. M. FROST. 



** The dignity of this act is worth the audience 
of kings and princes/' — Shakespeare, 



PRICE: 90 CENTS, POSTPAID 



SUNDAY SCHOOL BOARD 

SOUTHERN BAPTIST CONVENTION 

NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two Go pies Received 

DEC 26 1905 

Cooyrig^nt Entry 

CLASS CX, XXC. No. 

COPY B. 



^ 






ISSUED UNDER 

The Eva Carvey 

Publishing 

Fund 

GIVEN BY B. E. GARVEY 

NEW LIBERTY, KY. 

JANUARY, 1899 



FOURTH BOOK 



Copyrighted 1905 

Sunday School Board Southern Baptist 

Convention 



Press of 
Marshall & Bruce Co. 

NASHVILLE, TENN. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS. 



4 I. Having Fellowship in Baptism — 

^^^\^ Fruitage of Former Years ; 

^ Walking in the Old Paths ; 

Baptist Faith and Fellowship; 
^^^ Recalling Your Baptism 7-14 

"^ 11. Moral Dignity of the Act — 

^ Reproduces an August Scene; 

Monument of Glorious Achievement; 

A Commemorative Figure; 

A A'lemorial Witness for God; 

Symbol of Great Heart Experiences ; 

Revealing Hidden Wonders ; 

Emphasizes Stupendous Doctrine; 

Remembering Baptismal Scenes; 

Foretells the Crowning Event; 

Redemption of the Body; 

Its Voice a Prophetic Voice ; 

Resurrection in Fact and Figure iS""44 

in. Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan — 

The Ordinance Made Great Forever; 

The Pattern Set for Us ; 

Foretold Death and Resurrection; 

A Commanding Lesson ; 

Rightly Estimating Obedience; 

The Strategic Point in (Life 45~63 

IV. Jesus Buried in Joseph's New Tomb — 

His Death a Real Death ; 

Death Made His Burial Necessary; 

The Tom_b Made Doubly Secure; 

The Prophecy of His Baptism; 

Out of Darkness Into Light 64-74 

V. Problem of the Empty Sepulcher — 

Face to Face With Fact; 

The Historic Basis Impregnable; 

Maintaining Unbroken Consistency; 

Natural and Supernatural ; 

Setting Baptism for the Centuries 75~S8 



4 Table of Contents. 

VI. Baptism and Other Monuments — 

All True or All False ; 

Put to the Severest Test; 

Naming and Emphasizing the Monuments 

(The New Book; The New Day; The New 

Ordinance ; The New Institution) ; 
Their Value as Positive Proof; 
Evidence Cumulative and Convergent; 
A History of Their Own; 
The Far-off Brought Near 89-112 

VII. Baptism and the Trinity — 

Its Special Emphasis of the Trinity; 

The Doctrine in the Ordinance; 

Baptism and the Lord Jesus; 

His Redemptive Work; 

Symbol of the Real Fountain; 

Baptism and the Holy Spirit; 

Baptism and Church Membership; 

Significant, but Without Efficacy Ii3~i33 

VIII. The New Birth and Then Baptism — 

Making a Statement of Doctrine ; 

Different Figures of Speech; 

This Work is of God; 

Manifestly a Human Side; 

Example of the Principle; 

Finding Outward Manifestation 134-150 

IX. Baptism of the Believer — 

No Room for "Infant Baptism;" 

An Essential Difference; 

His Believing Precedes His Baptism; 

The Order of Experiences ; 

Facing the Form and the Formula; 

Baptism, the Believer's Privilege ; 

Baptism, the Believer's Obligation; 

The More Insistent View 151-170 

X. The Believer's Risen Life — 

Its Basis and Definition; 

Real Life from Real Death; 

The Faith of the Operation of God; 

Gloriously Set Forth in Baptism; 

Necessarily Immersion in Form ; 

Inspiration and Commanding Outlook 171-187 



Table of Contents, 5 

XL The Lord^s Baptism and the Lord's Supper — 
The New Testament Law; 
Their Relation to Heart Religion; 
Of Equal Rank and Importance; 
Must Be Kept for Christ; 
A Serious Violation; 
The Supremacy of Christ's Law 188-205 

XIL The EssentIx\l Form of Baptism — 
A Plea for Obedience ; 
The Form Commanded by Name; 
The New Testament Form; 
Immersion the Form Used; 
One Word for All Cases ; 
The Change from Baptism to Sprinkling; 
Historical Statement and Contrast; 
Design Dependent Upon Right Form ; 
Individual Obligation in Baptism; 
Indifferent, but Responsible: , 

The Place of Divergence; 
At the Pool for Baptism.. 206-234 

XIII. Foretoken of Final Resurrection — 

The Engagement Ring; 

The Sure Foundation; 

Immortality and Resurrection; 

The Resurrection of the Ungodly; 

The Present and Future Body; 

The Statement of Scripture; 

The Resurrection Power; 

God's Symxbol and Signal 235-257 

XIV. Three Visions of the Son of Man — 

Baptism as Loyalty to Our Lord ; 

The New Testament Emphasis ; 

We Worship Him in Baptism; 

Conflict Concerning His Person; 

Baptism Set for His Defense ; 

Illustrations of His Saving Power; 

An Experimental Conception ; 

The Son of Man's Final Triumph; 

Praise With a Prayer 258-282 



THE BAPTISM OF OUR LORD 



Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to 
Jordan unto John, to be baptised of him. 

But John forbade him, saying, I have 
need to be baptized of thee, and comest 
thou to me ? 

And Jesus answering said unto him, 
Suffer it to be so now : for thus it becom- 
eth us to fulfil all righteousness. Then 
he suffered him. 

And Jesus, when he was baptized, went 
up straightway out of the water : and, lo, 
the heavens were opened unto him. and 
he saw the Spirit of God descending' like 
a dove, and lighting upon him : 

And lo a voice from heaven, saying, 

This is my beloved Son, in whom I am 

well pleased, 

— Matthew 3 : 13-17. 



CHAPTER I. 

HAVING FELLOWSHIP IN BAPTISM. 

THIS book is a growth. It was written because 
the message burned in the heart for utterance. 
Here my heart has said its earnest word con- 
cerning this ordinance of the Lord's house. Early in 
my preacher-Hfe circumstances led me to an extensive 
comparative study of the creeds of the different de- 
nominations. I shall never cease to be grateful for 
that study, for its effects were marked and manifold. 

For one thing, it gave me genuine admiration and 
more generous fellowship for those of other faith than 
our own. I came to know what they believe and the 
reasons for their faith, and considered them sincere in 
their convictions, and even in what some call their 
prejudices. This sentiment has been deepened as the 
years have gone on ; and some of the most delightful 
companionships in my several pastorates have been 
found among preachers and laymen of other denomina- 
tions. My relations with them have been in every way 
pleasant, and I have accorded them all I could wish for 
myself. There has been a friendly freedom that allowed 
the expression of my convictions without abatement. 

Out of that study came also a nev/ love for the ordi- 
nance of baptism, a love which through all the years 

(7) 



8 Moral Dignify of Baptism. 

grew stronger and held its sway in my heart, as in my 
experience I came to see that ordinance in its rightful 
and exalted place. My convictions for the Baptist 
faith were made more intelligent; became more in- 
tense, more comprehensive in my conception of the 
great system of truth. This has served me many times, 
and always with advantage. While avoiding the con- 
troversial spirit, I have stood with outspoken words 
for the things believed among us ; always in the spirit 
of brotherhood, nothing doubting, and nothing waver- 
ing as to the faith of my own people. 

In my first pastorate the little book was written, 
"Pedobaptism ; Is it from Heaven or of Men?" And 
in my second pastorate the pamphlet, "The Consistency 
of Restricted Communion,'^ was published, having been 
prepared under appointment for a public address. In 
all my pastorates I preached much on the different 
phases of baptism, never as a "hobby,'' seldom as a 
specialty, never as a matter of controversy, but as 
rich in its own significance. And throughout these 
pages I have sought to give the ordinance of baptism 
its rightful seat among the dignitaries of the kingdom 
of truth. 

Fruitage of Former Years. 

In my secretaryship, though crowded with labors 
and cares, I gathered up this preaching and study of 
previous years, and crowded all into one sermon, with 
the title — Moral Dignity of Baptism. It was preached 



Having Fellowship in Baptism. 9 

in many places, as occasion offered, though there was 
never sufficient opportunity to write it out. It was 
preached in the style and language of extemporaneous 
speech. Brethren were kind enough to request, and 
even urge, its publication. And finally I put it in 
manuscript, though under many serious hindrances ; 
writing sometimes on the train, sometimes while wait- 
ing at the depot, sometimes at the hotel, but also and 
ever under the constraint of an inner impulse that I 
must say this v/ord to my brethren and in their behalf. 

Not until the manuscript was completed and found 
too long for either a newspaper article or an effective 
tract, did I have any thought of a book. And even 
then the task seemed impossible in a life crowded al- 
most to breaking. But stimulated by brethren whom 
1 love and honor, and who have been indulgent toward 
me without measure, I drove on, until my pen was 
laid down at the end of the last chapter, and I thanked 
God out of a grateful heart that the work was finished. 

This sermon is the next chapter following under the 
title, Moral Dignity of the Act, and is left as it was 
written, and for the most part as it was preached, so 
nearly as I could make it. That chapter contains the 
whole book. All that comes after is development and 
emphasis. Each succeeding chapter is com.plete in 
itself, and sets out more fully what could be only 
briefly stated in the sermon. The reader, however, 
will find some advantage in continuity and completion 
of thought by taking together chapters four, five, and 



10 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

six. The same is true also concerning chapters eight, 
nine, and ten. 



Walking in the Old Paths. 

The views herein set forth are not original, but such 
as our people have always advocated. It is remarkable 
how these views are gradually working their way 
among other denominations, and are even maintained 
and get fresh emphasis by others than Baptists in their 
latest and best expositions of the Scriptures. It has 
been my aim, without the use of quotation or footnote, 
except in a few cases, to make straightforward state- 
ment of the latest results of the best scholarship. The 
trained interpreter and the ordinary reader of the 
Word of God are at one as to the form of baptism, and 
almost at one as to the meaning of the ordinance. The 
common ground of their meeting is where Baptists 
have always stood. 

Baptists have rendered exceptional service in pre- 
serving this ordinance as commanded by Christ. But 
while their view as to form and subject has won its 
place, even among other denominations, they have now 
another mission, namely: to make the world see the 
meaning of the ordinance. Our people are in position 
to do this more effectively than any other people. We 
stand on middle ground, holding that baptism is ^^not 
essential to salvation" in any sense, and yet is of im- 
mense import in fulfilling a definite purpose, both as 
an ordinance in the kingdom of Christ, and a doctrine 



Having Fellowship in Baptism. ji 

in the Christian system. Surely it is a noble mission 
to set this glorious ordinance before the world, so that 
all the world may see its meaning ; and this is a mission 
for Baptist people everywhere. 

The form, the purpose, the spirit of baptism — these 
are the three thoughts which need to be emphasized. 
They are inseparable except for emphasis. They con- 
stitute the composite character of this ordinance in the 
service of God. This book stands for these three ele- 
ments — form, purpose, and spirit — as essential to the 
unity of baptismo 

Baptist Faith and Fellowship. 

Baptist fellowship was broadened and enriched by 
the Baptist World Congress, recently held in London. 
That occasion, with four thousand delegates assembled 
from the nations of the earth in one spirit and fellow- 
ship, was an epoch in denominational affairs. It em- 
phasized the vital unity, strength, and value of denomi- 
nationalism as consistent with the broadest and loftiest 
outlook for the cause of Christ. It emphasized the in- 
dividual Baptist, and the individual Baptist church, 
v/ithout regard for "The Church,'' and with almost holy 
contempt for ^The Church'' idea. Baptists stand for a 
kmgdom, the kingdom of their Lord and Saviour Jesus 
Christ. He is their King; they are his subjects. 

Their fellowship, starting with individual believers, 
extending through the individual church and churches, 
becomes world-wide in sweep, and girdles the earth. 



12 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

Without ecclesiastical oneness, without formal Creed, 
or Discipline, or Prayer Book, or any recognized human 
head or formula, our people have the basis and bond 
of their fellowship in the oneness of their experience 
of grace, in the oneness of their baptism, in the oneness 
of their faith in the great heart-doctrines of the Gospel, 
in the oneness of purpose in all their vast enterprises 
for the furtherance of the Gospel and for the complete 
triumph of the kingdom of Christ. ^The Bible, and 
the Bible alone, is the religion" of Baptists. They be- 
lieve the book is from God as its Author, and the only 
authority sufficient for doctrine and life. 

They may recite the socalled Apostles' Creed, in- 
dividually or in assembled thousands as they did in 
Exeter Hall, but they are much larger than the 
Apostles' Creed, more definite and distinctive, more 
purposeful concerning the things of the kingdom of 
our Lord. Theirs is the unity of the spirit, with one 
Spirit, ''one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and 
Father of all." 

Baptists have fellowship in baptism, not only in their 
view of its doctrine, but in the profounder fact, that 
they have been baptized in the one baptism, obeying 
their Lord and following where he led the way. 
Wherever the American, whether of army or navy, 
wears the uniform of the nation — if indeed he be a true 
soldier — there is the spirit of comradeship, of fellow- 
ship, even of lofty kinship. The baptized have been 
where their Lord went before, have done the thing 
which he himself did, have stood where he stood, have 



Having Fellozvship in Baptism, 13 

even lain in solemn figure where he was laid. Each 
can say of his own baptism : "Come see the place where 
the Lord lay." This is one bond of fellowship, and 
gives them touch with each other, and a common touch 
also with their Lord. 



Recalling Your Baptism. 

In his address of welcome to the Baptist World Con- 
gress, Judge WilHs, K. C. of England, as reported in 
the British Weekly, said: "The greatest privilege 
which a Baptist has is to remember his own baptism — 
but, alas ! for members of other churches, this can never 
be more than a m.atter of hearsay !" These simple 
words from the distinguished member of the English 
bar were made more emphatic by the occasion, are yet 
pertinent, and have wide application. They appeal'to 
Baptists wherever Baptists are found, and in what- 
ever tongue they tell the story of the work of grace. 
They touch a chord that vibrates in Baptist hearts 
everywhere. 

The thought of your baptism may awaken a thousand 
precious memories, may set going all the powers of 
the soul in the sweetest mmsic the world ever heard. 
You recall the experience of grace that went before; 
you recall the happy associations of that hour ; you re- 
call the vows wherein you declared yourself dead with 
Christ and risen with him, with larger hopes for the 
future. It is a privilege of distinction, and a bond of 
strong fellowship that our people can recall that hour, 



14 Moral Dignity of Baptism, 

that solemn yet joyous act, when risen with Christ they 
set their affections above, where Christ sitteth at the 
right hand of God. The memory of their baptism 
awakens the rapturous song in their heart and brings 
afresh the coronation of their King. 

The supremacy of Christ in his churches, in his 
ordinances, in the affairs of his kingdom, in the hearts 
of men, was the watchword of that great meeting in 
London, and is the watchword of Baptists throughout 
the world. But there is another word, a counter word, 
and in some respects even more important — the faith- 
fulness of believers. For how can his supremacy be- 
come actual and effectual in the world except as be- 
lievers are loyal and faithful? These two words — 
supremacy in him and faithfulness in us — give incom- 
parable strength and exaltation to fellowship and serv- 
ice. In him we live, in him we serve, in him we 
conquer. 

The faithful performance of the commandments of 
our Lord is the most pressing need in the world today, 
and gives the most imperial life among men. Herein 
is his earthly coronation ; herein is the conquering ag- 
gressiveness of the hosts of God; herein also is the 
highway to universal dominion for Christ ; herein is the 
sure forerunner of the crowning day that is coming, 
when Jesus shall reign supreme, and every knee shall 
bow, and every tongue shall confess him Lord to the 
glory of God the Father. 




AND LO A VOICE FROM HEAVEN, SAYING, THIS IS MY BELOVED SON. IN 
WHOM I AM WELL PLEASED.— Matt. 3:17. 



CHAPTER II. 

MORAL DIGNITY OF THE ACT. 

"But John forbade him; and Jesus said, Suffer it to 
be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteous- 
ness. And he suffered him." 

THESE simple words between John and Jesus 
mark a crisis in the course of events then cur- 
rent. The first and second recorded words of 
the world's great Teacher were words of remonstrance, 
spoken many years apart. First, with his parents, 
when they failed to comprehend the majesty of his 
mission — 'Wist ye not that I must be about my Fa- 
ther's business?" and, second, with his forerunner, for 
withstanding him in the plain path of duty and loftier 
service — ^'Suffer it to be so now." Here the door 
opens to his public ministry, and beyond were the 
Jordan for his baptism, the wilderness for his tempta- 
tion, and all that came after in the world-life of our 
Lord. 

Baptism as a physical act is quite ordinary, alto- 
gether commonplace — simply the immersion of a 
person in water; but baptism as a Christian ordinance 
is altogether extraordinary, passes at once into the 
sphere of the subHme, and becomes possessed of moral 
grandeur unsurpassed, possibly unequaled in almost 
any other human act. As obedience to our Lord's 

(15) 



i6 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

final command, baptism is the immersion in water of 
a penitent believer in Jesus — one in whomi the work 
of grace has been wrought — ''into the name of the 
Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." 

The Christian world needs a loftier conception of 
this ordinance, as to its meaning and place in doctrine 
and life; a conception of baptism that will remove it 
from the controversial sphere in both letter and spirit. 
If hitherto we have had to battle for its rightful ob- 
servance, let us count the victory won, and turn now 
to behold the glory of this thing which our Lord 
shows us, and for whose preservation our people have 
stood through the Christian ages. Such a conception 
of baptism will at once remove it from the realm of 
those who deride or jest, and will give it equal rank 
with its companion ordinance — the Lord's Supper — 
equal to it in every way, in deepness of meaning, rich- 
ness and tenderness of sentiment, and equal to it also 
as resting on the authority of Jesus and foretelling the 
glory of his coming. 

Manifestly baptism cannot be studied by itself as a 
single act. It has inseparable associations and con- 
nections within which lie its significance and moral 
dignity as an act of Christian obedience. It is itself 
not a diamond, but only the setting for the diamond, 
and presents not a solitaire, but a cluster, rich in cumu- 
lative and reflective beauty and brilliance. The ordi- 
nance is nothing in itself, but takes the significance 
and greatness of other things; and though shining 
with borrowed light, yet shines gloriously. It repro- 



Moral Dignity of the ^Act. Vj 

duces an august scene; is monumental of glorious 
achievement ; represents momentous heart-experiences ; 
is closely related to a stupendous doctrine; and is 
prophetic of the greatest event yet future. 

Baptism in its very nature and form is spectacular — 
a spectacle to men and angels and God. So is the 
Lord's Supper. The Hebrew religious service was 
spectacular on a large scale, approaching sometimes 
the magnificent and even gorgeous. The Gospel, how- 
ever, has only two ordinances, and these are so simple 
and yet so significant as to show the divine touch. 

Reproduces an August Scene. 

I. In baptism as showing dignity of the act we do 
what Jesus did in one of the most august scenes of his 
life — his baptism in the Jordan, Any one naming 
five or six greatest events in the life of our Lord will 
almost surely include his baptism, giving it rank with 
his birth, temptation, transfiguration, his mighty bear- 
ing at the tomb of Lazarus, and his garden experience. 

The things in his life that appear extraordinary to 
us were ordinary to the angels, while the ordinary to 
us was extraordinary with them. We marvel that he 
calmed the storm and the sea; they wondered that he 
slumbered and slept in the hinder part of the ship. 
They wondered that he could lay down his life; we 
Vv^onder that he could take it again. His resurrection 
is a mystery to us, but his death was a mystery to the 
2 



1 8 Moral Dignify of Baptism. 

angels which they desired to look into and could not 
comprehend. 

It is remarkable that he was baptized; that leaving 
the quiet home of his boyhood at Nazareth and walk- 
ing some sixty or seventy miles, he should count it 
worth while and even necessary to seek John and the 
Jordan and baptism, as the multitudes had done. We 
rather sympathize with John in forbidding him, and 
like John also, we perhaps fail to discern the signifi- 
cance of the occasion and the hour to which they had 
come. 

It was a crucial moment when Jesus came to John 
to be baptized of him in the Jordan. The Son of God 
sought baptism of a man — to walk in the way ap- 
pointed for penitent sinners, though he himself knew 
no sin. God the Father also was there, not visibly 
but audibly with his word of recognition, approval, 
and coronation. The Holy Spirit, Third Person in the 
Trinity, was also present, not audibly but visibly, 
throwing over the scene the glory which the Son had 
with the Father before the world was. And as the 
windows of heaven were thrown open the angels must 
have looked on in eager wonder. 

The most satisfactory exposition of the baptism of 
Jesus that has come under my observation was from 
an Episcopal preacher of the Church of England, Dr. 
Marcus Rainsford, selected by Mr. Moody as chief 
speaker in the Northfield meeting for the summer of 
1886. Some thought that it did not fit the occasion, 
that it was too pronounced for immersion as the form 



Moral Dignity of the Act, ig 

of baptism, but it was a sermon of rare merit, of the 
finest spirit, and great in sweep of thought and ex- 
pository power. 

The preacher described in vivid fashion the Sav- 
iour's baptism — '^his immersion in the Jordan, his 
burial by John, and his resurrection from the grave 
made in the flowing water/' He then set out with 
clearness the meaning of it all, ringing the changes on 
the phrase, '^phinged under penal judgment'' as tell- 
ing the story of its purpose, and showing in figure 
what he should soon do in fact by his death on the 
cross and his resurrection from the grave. Dr. Rains- 
ford told how on a visit to the Jordan he had walked 
up and down the banks of that historic stream hoping 
to stand at the very place where our Lord stood and 
walked. He moved the great audience by the charm 
of his words and beauty of his story, until we were 
lost in the imagination that we ourselves were there — 
standing where the Son of God had stood, looking on 
the majestic scene as it passed. 

But this privilege is beyond us; indeed, we do not 
need this, for in our own baptism we have something 
holier than a visit to the Jordan, something more lofty 
as we come to do the very thing our Lord and Master 
did, to go where he went in advance of us, to lie where 
he lay, to meet a high and solemn obligation even as 
he did, and catch the approving word from our Fa- 
ther and his. 

The glory of his person shines upon the pathway of 
his earthly career and glorifies whatever he touched. 



20 Moral Dignify of Baptism. 

Childhood became exalted because he was a child. 
He worked in the carpenter's shop, and ever after- 
Vs^ards labor took on a new dignity. Even the cross 
lost its shame and became luminous because of his 
death, and the grave lost its darkness and despair by 
the wonder and joy of his resurrection. So also bap- 
tism, a common act in everyday life, under his ap- 
pointment as an ordinance and because he had gone 
that way first, became glorious for all succeeding ages 
— a sublime act for all who walk in his footsteps in 
love and loyal devotion. 

Here we not only do what he did, but what he did 
under conditions and circumstances that made his 
simple act august in heavenly splendor, and our bap- 
tism, however humble and obscure, takes on some- 
thing of the sublimity that belongs to his. It is a 
solemn and lofty moment in one's life when he comes 
to this ordinance. It marks a kind of momentous 
turning point in his life. We are following in the 
Saviour's footsteps, and our baptism repeats his in 
form, perpetuates its lessons, marks our obedience to 
his law and our devotion to his service. This is moral 
dignity, and gives the ordinance an isolation and char- 
acter all its own. 

Monument of Glorious Achievement. 

2. Our baptism, as showing its moral greatness, is 
a monument of the greatest event in the history of the 
world — the resurrection of Jesns. It takes to itself, 



Moral Dignify of the Act. 21 

so commonplace, something of the glory which broke 
upon the world when by the power of God his Son 
was raised from the dead. The baptism of Jesus as 
a figure had a forward look not only to the cross but 
also to the tomb, not only to the death but also to the 
burial, not only to the burial but also to his resurrec- 
tion. When standing midway of his ministry, looking 
backward and forward — backward to the Jordan, for- 
ward to the things yet to come — Jesus declared he had 
a baptism to be baptized with. We read the wonder- 
ful utterance and stop at Calvary, but his thoughts 
swept on to Joseph's garden and the new sepulcher — 
'1 have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I 
straitened until it be accomplished !" 

Our baptism commemorates the event to which he 
was then looking forward, as filling the whole field of 
his vision. And so the ordinance becomes at once 
picture and proof of that achievement. You see here 
wrought out in monumental figure what then took 
place in fact, when on that quiet morning the angel 
came down and rolled away the stone, and Jesus rose 
triumphant from the grave. It is of the very life and 
purpose of the monument to testify, and its testimony, 
though silent like the testimony of the stars, goes out 
into all the earth. And the monument gathers into 
itself the distinction and honor and renown of the 
event which it commemorates. So let it be kept in 
mind that one is baptized for a monumental purpose, 
and how the simple ordinance yet tells in commemora- 
tive way the most wonderful story in all history. 



22 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

Jesus died on the cross, and so we have the fact of 
his death; his body all mangled, yet cared for by 
tender hands, was laid in the new tomb, made fast 
with the Roman seal and secure by Roman soldiers, 
and so we have the fact of his burial — no "swooning" 
or delusion or collusion about all this. On the morn- 
ing of the third day the world was confronted with a 
new problem — the problem of an empty sepulcher. 
There it was, open to all, seen by all, admitted by all. 
But how came it empty? And what had become of 
the body? The question set all Jerusalem astir, and 
was answered by each one in his own theory. 

The soldiers said his disciples had come by night 
while they themselves were sleeping, had broken the 
Roman seal, rolled the stone away, and stolen his body. 
Peter and John went into the sepulcher at the early 
dawn of day, saw where the body had been, saw that 
it was gone, saw the marks of his departure, and then 
left, John believing that Jesus had risen from the dead. 
Peter "went away wondering," but later, however, 
when something radical had taken place with him, 
and he had seen his Lord, his wonder changed into 
certitude, and he ever afterwards, and with exultant 
faith, stood for the resurrection even under terrible 
persecution. The women also came, found the stone 
rolled away and the body gone. They were affrighted ; 
then hearing that v/onderful word, which may be called 
the theory of the angels, "He is not here, he is risen; 
come see the place where the Lord lay" — ran to tell 
in gladness what they had seen and heard. Mary at 



Moral Dignity of the Act, 23 

first accepted the theory of the stolen body, and wept 
in her grief, but meeting her Lord in the garden, broke 
the stillness of the morning with her joyous Rabboni, 
Rabboni. The two disciples turning away from the 
buried Christ, turning away indeed from the risen 
Christ himself, not even stopping to investigate for 
themselves the report of trustworthy witnesses, walked 
out into the world's darkness of despair. But they 
also met their Lord, or were overtaken by him, felt the 
charm of his voice, felt that strange burning of heart 
that comes from the touch of high and mighty word, 
and then hastened in their return to tell the assembled 
group that they also had seen the Lord. And Thomas, 
the last, would not believe, said even in the face of 
mighty testimony that he zvoiild not believe, except on 
personal experience, and carried that unbelief for a 
whole week as a fearful conflict in mind and heart; 
but the Saviour found even him, showed his hands and 
side with look and voice that swept the soul of the 
man of unbelief, and Thomas burst forth in those 
words that became the crowning glory of the tragic 
experiences for the week — "my Lord and my God" — 
words that to this day have set the music of the world. 

A Commemorative Figure. 

That empty sepulcher has its monument, Its memo- 
rial witness, in the ordinance of baptism wherein \y^ 
are buried with Christ and wherein we are raised up 
again to walk in newness of life. In its frequent repe- 



^4 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

tition baptism keeps before the world the mighty 
problem of the empty tomb, and always with its glori- 
ous answer for the resurrection and the risen Christ; 
declares anew for the resurrection of Jesus; becomes 
the holy sepulcher, the new tomb of Joseph of Ari- 
mathea ; and so takes to itself something of the signifi- 
cance and splendor of that tremendous achievement of 
divine power. The glory of that first morning is upon 
every baptism. 

The voice of baptism is ever the same, "He is not 
here ; he is risen as he said ; come see the place where 
the Lord lay!'' Baptism as an institution, and every 
baptism as administered, is in itself a monument, and 
bears witness to the resurrection of Jesus in which 
God wrought this work for human redemption, de- 
liverance, and emancipation. In baptism it is as 
though we looked into the sepulcher with the women, 
or heard afresh the words of the angel, or entered with 
Peter and John into the empty sepulcher ; or like Mary 
or Thomas came upon our Lord in some new revela- 
tion of his risen glory or his condescending love and 
compassion and tenderness. And so the ordinance has 
stood a silent mighty monument like the great pyra- 
mids of Egypt, and its testimony to this day is un- 
broken and sweeps down the ages with increasing 
power. 

The evidence in monuments for the resurrection of 
Jesus is of transcendent importance. In our study of 
Christian evidences we have not given due considera- 
tion to the evidence which monuments give, or taken 



Moral Dignity of the Act. 25 

into account the force of their testimony which can 
hardly be gainsaid. 

Along the track of the ages God's plan has been 
to mark the great events through which he worked out 
the fullness of his purpose, and to leave some monu- 
ment to commemorate what he had done. There are 
other monuments than those of stone and bronze and 
memorial halls and buildings. But they all have a 
common purpose — namely, to commemorate the person 
or event or thing for which they stand. Bunker Hill 
monument is a lofty shaft of New England granite, 
testifying to the struggle and victory for civil liberty. 
The Washington monument at the nation's capital tes- 
tifies of the nation's chieftain, as to his historic reality, 
his integrity of character, his military valor, his civic 
honesty and courageous service for his country. Every 
block of marble in that giant column is vocal with testi- 
mony for a life full of splendid endeavor and of heroic 
achievement in the history of men and nations. 

Memorial Witness for God. 

God has not left himself without monument in the 
world to his greatest achievement in raising his Son 
from the dead. As monuments with their testimony 
he gave a new book, a new day, a new ordinance, a 
new organization — namely, the New Testament, the 
Lord's Day, the ordinance of baptism, the church as a 
divine institution. These all in their testimony converge 
at the empty sepulcher, and all declare for the resur- 



26 Moral Dignity of Baptism, 

rection of Jesus, all point to the risen Christ; indeed, 
each and every one of them bears false witness unless 
Christ be risen from the dead. 

Passing by the others we here emphasize baptism 
as a monument, standing foursquare, undisturbed by 
the storms and conflicts of the centuries, and with in- 
scriptions that tell their own story. There on its very 
front are the words : To the memory of Jesus of Naza- 
reth ; born at Bethlehem ; ^ baptized in the Jordan ; 
wrought his life-work ; died on the cross ; was buried 
and rose from the dead. Again, on another side of 
the monument are the words of the angel, "He is risen 
as he said, come see the place where the Lord lay." 
And still again as we move around the monument to 
study its meaning, there are the words : "Buried with 
him in baptism, wherein also ye are raised up with 
him by the faith of the operation of God." And yet 
again, as uncovering heaven and earth at one sweep, 
and setting the high mark of this life and revealing 
the glory of the life beyond the stars, there are the 
words : "If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those 
things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the 
right hand of God; when Christ who is our life shall 
appear, then shall ye also appear with him in glory." 

There can be no monument except for the ante- 
cedent act for which it stands ; no passover except for 
the Hebrew deliverance; no Lord's Supper except for 
the Lord's death on the cross; no baptism except for 
his resurrection from the grave. This Indeed is the 
very meaning and power of the monument. There 



Moral Dignity of the Act. 2,*J 

must have been a Bunker Hill battle, else there could 
not be a Bunker Hill monument. It is a witness and 
bears testimony to acts and events that must have gone 
before. 

Our own baptism, as simply an act of obedience to 
our Lord, has upon it not only the splendor of his bap- 
tism, but shines also in the very glory of his resur- 
rection wherein he brought life and immortality to 
light. This makes the ordinance great in exceptional 
and exalted character, and justifies the plea for its 
moral dignity and grandeur. Baptism is for a glori- 
ous purpose, and tells the most wonderful story in all 
the history of the ages. 

Symbol of Great Heart-experiences. 

3. Baptism as showing its quality of moral excel- 
lence represents the greatest spiritual change possible 
in human hearts — that marvelous heart-experience in 
which one becomes a Christian, It is very important 
to understand the outward physical act in its relation 
to this inner experience. To call baptism a ^^mere rite" 
is to belittle the ordinance ; to consider baptism in any 
sense a means or condition of salvation utterly per- 
verts the truth. In either case the ordinance is robbed 
of its wondrous significance. To say that baptism sym- 
bolizes the new birth if true at all is yet inadequate. 
Baptism is not the new birth, nor in any sense an in- 
strument unto regeneration. It is a symbol indeed. 



28 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

not however of birth, but of resurrection, representing 
death, burial, and empty sepulcher. 

This inner change expressed in physical terms is 
commonly called a birth — as being born from above, 
born unto God, begotten of God; it is also called a 
change of heart as the inner experience of grace ; also 
a new creation in Christ Jesus ; a translation from the 
kingdom of Satan into the kmgdom of God's dear 
Son; a passing from death unto life; a being made 
alive again and being raised up with Christ — a spirit- 
ual resurrection. These expressions are so many dif- 
ferent figures of speech in an effort to describe and 
emphasize the marvelous experience. 

When this experience is considered a resurrection — 
a spiritual resurrection wrought by the power of God 
in the inner precincts of the soul — then indeed baptism 
becomes its outward expression, its embodiment in 
visible form, and for this reason takes something 
of its moral character, borrows of its dignity, and 
shines in its glory. Baptism is not only the public 
profession of faith in Christ, who died for our sins 
and rose again for our justification, but declares in 
public action that we have been made alive in him and 
are now risen with him. 

What takes place in one's thought and feeling finds 
expression in different ways : The orator thinks, and 
sways the multitude with his thought as expressed in 
words ; the writer expresses his thought on the printed 
page until it catches the very Hght from the glow of 
his mind; the sculptor with chisel and mallet makes 



Moral Dignity of the 'Act. 29 

the marble give life-like expression to the mighty con- 
ception of his genius; while the artist with paint and 
brush in skillful touch tells the wonderful story of 
what is going on in his heart and building in his mind ; 
and the human face is almost like a stringed instru- 
ment in giving expression to sentiment and emotions 
that stir the soul. So it comes about often, that actions 
speak louder than words. 

But here is a marvelous change that takes place in 
the human heart, is wrought in the spiritual nature 
of man. One dead in trespasses and sins is quickened, 
made alive in Christ Jesus, raised up with him and 
made to sit with him in heavenly places — a resurrec- 
tion followed by a risen life. We experience this 
change and know that something radical has taken 
place. But hov/, we know not; or how to express it 
we know not. Whereas we were blind, now we see; 
whereas we were dead unto God, we live unto him. 
Oh ! how we have been baffled in our attempts to give 
expression to this work of grace! We sing and are 
happy; we are happy, and our hearts burst forth in 
exultant song; but we cannot tell in words the won- 
drous story. Simple language befits it best, yet the 
mightiest language is inadequate. 

Revealing Hidden Wonders. 

Baptism is the physical expression of this spiritual 
experience — the picture of what takes place in the 
soul when raised from the dead. Dead to sin, and so 



30 Moral Dignify of Baptism. 

we are buried; alive unto God and righteousness, and 
so we are raised up again. Here we come upon the 
very heart-meaning of this ordinance. Herein is the 
significance of those utterances : ''Crucified with 
Christ;" "baptized into Christ;" ''baptized unto his 
death;" "buried with him by baptism into death; that 
like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the 
glory of the Father, even we also should walk in new- 
ness of life;" "buried with him in baptism wherein 
also ye are risen with him through the faith of the 
operation of God;" "if ye then be risen with Christ, 
seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth 
on the right hand of God." These things are inward, 
but baptism is their outward expression. 

In this ordinance God made a picture of marvelous 
charm and hung it out before the world that all might 
see. It shows in figure what God has wrought in fact ; 
uncovers in marvelous way the divine operation in the 
human heart; tells as no human speech can tell what 
God has done for our soul. It is only a picture indeed, 
but a wonderful picture, made by him who made the 
stars, and declares his glory and shows his handiwork. 
Baptism shows in emblem almost the very workings of 
divine power in its secret springs and processes. It 
goes as far as picture can go in its expression of life 
and the sources of life. The spiritual finds expression 
in the physical; fact finds embodiment in figure; and 
in its very form baptism represents the heart-change, 
the inner death and resurrection. 

Baptism as a picture from the divine hand has also 



Moral Dignity of the Act. 31 

divine meaning and revelation — a revelation of what 
God has previously wrought in the soul, wherein he 
shows "the exceeding greatness of his power to us- 
ward who believe, according to the working of his 
mighty power which he wrought in Christ when he 
raised him from the dead and set him at his own right 
hand in the heavenly places/' So baptism as a symbol 
is a picture of God's power and its working, first, 
when operative in Joseph's new tomb raising Christ 
from the dead; and, second, when operative in the 
human heart making one alive from the dead. It gets 
so close to the original that the unthoughtful have 
mistaken the picture for the original, the visible for 
the invisible, the action seen in form for the experience 
had in the heart — as when the marble statue is so finely 
chiseled that in its very perfection it is taken for the 
living human form. It is not the original, and yet 
shines in the glory of the original, and takes to itself 
the moral grandeur of that wonderful change wherein 
the dead are made to live. 

Two things are manifest : 

(i) Baptism from its very nature is only for a class. 
It can have no significance except for such as have 
this experience of grace. It is both exclusive and in- 
clusive; for all zvho believe, hut for no others. It is 
intended for such as have repentance towards God 
and faith towards the Lord Jesus Christ; for those 
who previously become the children of God through 
faith in Christ. Faith is the royal badge in the royal 
family, and is the insignia of right to baptism. All 



3^ Moral Dignity of Baptism, 

these, but no others, can come to this ordinance. Here 
qualifications, fitness, a great heart-condition have 
prior necessity else the ordinance means nothing. 

A young lady not a Christian having witnessed a 
baptism said to her pastor, ''I would not let you bap- 
tize me for the world/' He startled her, however, by 
saying he ^Vould not baptize her for the world,'' and 
then explained how she could not come to the ordi- 
nance, for she was as yet unfit for the sacred service. 
This led to her conversion, and then all was changed, 
and her baptism was a joy. 

(2) Baptism puts one under bond to live a holy 
life. In its very resurrection there is a prophecy and 
promise for newness of life to the honor and glory of 
God. In a lofty sense it is a sacrament — using that 
noble word not in its theological sense, nor with the 
Roman Catholic idea, but as the old original sacramen- 
turn, in which the Roman soldier took oath of allegi- 
ance to defend and support the Roman empire. Here 
the old life is left behind, the new life is begun. The 
voice of baptism is ever calling in the risen life, that 
we seek not those things that are on the earth, but 
those things that are above where Christ sitteth at the 
right hand of God. 

Emphasizes Stupendous Doctrine. 

4. Baptism has moral dignity by its close connection 
with one of the most stupendous doctrines in the Chris- 
tian system — the Doctrine of the Trinity, As an in- 



Moral Dignity of the Act, 33 

stitution In the kingdom of God, or as a simple act of 
obedience baptism in every individual administration 
is covered and crowned with the glory of the Trinity. 
The baptismal formula used by divine permission and 
authority brings the Trinity into the act, does honor 
to the Three Persons in the eternal Godhead — as if to 
declare the presence of each and so complete the re- 
production of the Saviour's baptism, and make ours 
like his as a copy follows the model. This sacred pro- 
nouncement of the three-fold name serves as a very 
shekinah under the glory of which baptism is ad- 
ministered. 

Let it be remembered who comes to baptism. This 
ordinance is only for the saved, and has neither mean- 
ing nor profit for others ; let none other venture here ; 
let us dare lead none other into this solemn act. Bap- 
tism Is worship, and brings us face to face with God 
in his majesty, and In his saving, sovereign grace; 
here we stand on holy ground ; here we enter into the 
holy of holies. In the simple administration of the ordi- 
nance; here we stand before the burning bush uncov- 
ered as to our hearts In this glorious presence, awed 
and hushed Into silence by the simple mighty words 
and their Ineffable Import — Father, Son, and Holy 
Spirit — '^baptizing them into the name of the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Baptism 
gets Im.perlal prestige because of Its relation to the 
Trinity — the Trinity both as doctrine In the Christian 
system and as stupendous fact In the being of God. 

This baptismal formula by Its one name and three 
3 



34 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

persons emphasizes separateness and distinction of 
personality, while at the same time declaring for one- 
ness and Trinity of Being. It pledges faith, obedience, 
loyalty, devotion to the Triune God — Father, Son, and 
Holy Spirit, three in one and one in three. Persons 
frequently express trouble in soul at the thought of 
approaching the Lord's Supper ; surely there is reason 
for care and concern of conduct in following our Lord 
in baptism. We come this way but once, and our ac- 
tion is momentous in every sense, and becomes a su- 
preme moment in our lives. It demands our utmost 
care and concern. 

Remembering Baptismal Scenes. 

This may well awaken remembrance of the time 
when you put on Christ by baptism, and may start in 
your soul sacred memories with the glad song of by- 
gone years. Some of the most charming pictures that 
hang in memory's hall are scenes of baptisms wit- 
nessed at times as the years were passing. I remem- 
ber well my own baptism. It was a great day in the 
life of a country boy. It was with the old Cane Run 
Church, in Kentucky, midway between Georgetown 
and Lexington, where my father served so many happy 
years as pastor, and where I found the Saviour and 
where he first found me. The baptism followed on a 
Lord's Day in the latter part of November; the skies 
were overcast vv^ith clouds, and snow-flakes were fall- 
ing here and there. It was in a beautiful pool out in 



Moral Dignity of the Act. 35 

the open with stately forest trees standing around ; the 
ice was broken to make way for the ordinance; the 
pastor led his boy along the way their Saviour and 
Master had gone before, and upon profession of his 
faith buried him in the open grave and raised him up 
again in the quiet, solemn act. It was a moment of 
transcendent glory then, and even now as I look back 
to it. Years have come and gone; many who looked 
on and took part in that scene have passed away; 
change has crowded upon change thick and fast, and 
yet the joy of that day still rings in the soul, and its 
memory is as fresh and refreshing as the morning dew. 
I recall another baptism that occurred in my first 
pastorate, am.ong the very first indeed that I had the 
privilege of administering. It was a scene of interest 
and exultant joy. A young girl of strong and noble 
character made profession of faith, and stood as a 
candidate for baptism. In her home she met with 
bitter opposition, especially from her father, a man of 
vigorous, robust nature, and from her older sister, who 
taunted and ridiculed. But the girl stood fast, and 
before the day of her baptism came, the father yielded 
his consent and approbation, while the older sister in 
a conversion of marked power became a happy be- 
liever in the Lord Jesus. The baptism, took place in 
the beautiful Ohio. The day was bitter cold, with ice 
running in the river, and a thousand people or more 
gathered to witness the scene. The two sisters went 
into the water together, the pastor leading the way. 
The older was ^baptized first; then the younger fol- 



36 Moral Dignity of Baptism, 

lowed, followed her sister but also followed her Lord, 
and when raised from the water began singing in 
quiet, subdued tone that touched the hearts of the 
great multitude: 

Oh ! how happy are they, 
Who their Saviour obey. 

The people caught her spirit of rejoicing, joined in 
the song and poured out their soul in solemn, joyous 
praise with the happy girl, radiant in the sense of 
obedient love : 

Oh! how happy are they, 

Who their Saviour obey. 
And have laid up their treasure above! 

Tongue can never express 

The sweet comfort and peace 
Of a soul in its earliest love. 



I shall never forget that scene. It gave me a new 
vision of the beauty and satisfaction of walking in the 
way our Saviour led and remains in my memory as one 
of the most blessed, triumphant occasions in all my 
pastoral life. 

And yet, that occasion was not exceptional. From 
the days of the Jordan, and of the garden where 
Joseph's new tomb was, and of the farewell word of 
our Master, commanding us to walk in his footsteps, 
such scenes have been repeated over and over again in 
the history of the world. And the ordinance has lost 
none of its grandeur, but still stands crowned with 
glory and honor in the presence of ^he King, as ad- 



Moral Dignity of the Act. 37 

ministered into the name of the Father, and of the 
Son, and of the Holy Spirit. I once witnessed an out- 
door baptism where the rays of the evening sun fell 
upon the water at such an angle that the reflection 
changed the baptismal scene to a sea of splendor, as if 
Jordan were. reproduced in fact, and the glory of the 
great Three was upon all. 

Foretells the Crowning Event. 

5. Baptism as having moral dignity in lofty pur- 
pose is prophetic of the greatest event yet future in the 
history of the race- — the final resurrection of the dead. 
This is true of the ordinance, as an institution, and 
as set out by the Saviour's baptism in the Jordan, and 
as commanded for all who love him and will follow his 
example. We have rightly magnified baptism as a 
burial, but have not given sufficient emphasis to bap- 
tism as a resurrection. It betokens that most wonder- 
ful event yet to come; and though simple in itself is 
yet sublime in the grandeur of that coming scene. 

For the sake of emphasis we may designate three 
resurrections ; first, of Jesus as wrought by the power 
of God in Joseph's new tomb; second, the spiritual 
resurrection wrought by the same power in the heart 
dead in trespasses and in sin; third, the resurrection 
of the saints when Christ shall raise them up at the 
last day and shall change this vile body and fashion it 
like unto his own glorious body according to the work- 
ing of his mighty power. That final resurrection is 



38 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

clearly and wonderfully marked in the word of God; 
for example : 

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming and 
now is when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of 
God; and they that hear shall live; Marvel not at this, 
for the hour is coming in the which all that are in the 
graves shall hear his voice and come forth. They that 
have done good unto the resurrection of life; they that 
have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation." 

These are perhaps the stoutest words ever spoken by 
our Lord, and yet clear as the noonday sun for the 
future resurrection of the dead. This Scripture mani- 
festly sets out two resurrections, one spiritual being 
wrought in the heart as we have already seen, the other 
physical having the body as its subject; they are each 
a veritable resurrection with its separate, individual 
experience and event ; the one is now current, while the 
other is deferred until the last day; one is marvelous 
in our eyes, the other more marvelous, but both equally 
true ; both are wrought by the same power and prom- 
ised by the same words; one is both forerunner and 
guarantee of the other. Both have their expression 
and symbol in baptism — a picture of the one already 
wrought, a prophecy of the one yet to come. 

The severest test of faith, as we look back, is the 
resurrection of Jesus, and as we look forward, is the 
resurrection of the dead. But this simple ordinance, 
standing as the counterpart of the word of God in the 
boldness of its utterance, is at once the challenge and 
declaration of our faith — our faith in the past event, 
our expectant faith also in the event yet future. God 



Moral Dignify of the Act. 39 

has given us this ordinance and endowed it with mar- 
velous meaning, and here it stands between the empty 
sepulcher in the garden and the disrupted grave at the 
last day — monumental of the one, and prophetic of 
the other. 

Redemption of the Body. 

The final resurrection is the consummation act in 
human history. All things are now converging to- that 
event. Christ's word is the resurrection promise and 
power; Christ himself in his glorified estate is the 
resurrection model and pledge. We shall see him as 
he is, and be like him ; we have borne the image of the 
earthy, we shall bear the image of the heavenly. Like 
Adam now, we then shall be like Christ. 

Things impossible under one set of conditions be- 
come easy and natural under other conditions. In my 
home city, for example, one says as he sits with his 
family at supper time, he will breakfast next morning 
in Atlanta. That is impossible, says another; and so 
it is impossible, ''a physical impossibility,'' for there are 
three hundred miles between Nashville and Atlanta, 
with rivers and mountains intervening. But stop, you 
have not taken into account the N., C. & St. L. Rail- 
way, nor the preparation which has gone before — the 
roadbed, the rails and tunnels and bridges, schedule 
and mighty engines and well-equipped trains. With 
these all in, the thing is easy. You retire at Nashville, 
slumber through the night, and as you awake with the 
coming of a new day, and look out from the window 



40 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

of your rushing train, having covered all the interven- 
ing distance with its rivers and mountains, you are 
entering Georgia's beautiful capital. What before was 
Impossible has become under changed conditions not 
only possible, but easy, natural, almost necessary. With 
God in the creed, with his word of promise and power 
and purpose and pledge, all difficulties of the resur- 
rection are amply provided for. 'Why should it be 
thought a thing incredible with you that God should 
raise the dead'' — whether of Lazarus four days dead, 
or of Jesus three days in the tomb made doubly fast 
by Roman authority, or of the dead whose bodies have 
been under the dominion and desolation of death these 
many, many years ? "We groan within ourselves, wait- 
ing for the adoption, to-wit, the redemption of the 
body." There will be no failure or disappointment. 

That mighty event has only one emblem or fore- 
token ; baptism as a picture stands all by itself to fore- 
tell the coming glory when the grave shall give up its 
dead. Both nature and art abound with symbols of 
death, but not in the whole field of nature nor in the 
whole range of art is there a single picture of the 
resurrection. Not the chrysalis with its new-life, for 
the worm was not dead ; not nature bursting into new 
life when touched by the vernal sunshine and shower, 
for nature was only sleeping. There is a wide differ- 
ence between slumber and death. And baptism typi- 
fies a resurrection of the dead into life. 

Baptism though a single act shows a double picture 
—an immersion, but also an emersion ; a burial indeed. 



Moral Dignity of the Act. 41 

but also a resurrection. Baptism is God's voice crying 
in the wilderness that the dead shall live again; the 
forerunner of that louder voice of the angel and the 
trumpet-call when the dead shall be raised from the 
grave. Christ in many places has given his promise 
that the believer in him shall be raised up at ''the last 
day I' and when that day comes his word will be re- 
deemed. And with the redemption of his promise 
comes the redemption of the body — its resurrection at 
the last day. 

Its Voice a Prophetic Voice. 

Baptism is prophetic, and in its very nature declares 
the resurrection is not yet, but shall come. It is at 
once the voice of the past, and also of the future. 
Looking back baptism, as we have seen, reproduces the 
Jordan where our Lord was baptized, and commemo- 
rates the tomb in the garden where he was raised from 
the dead ; looking forward also to that crowning event 
in human history when the dead shall hear his voice, 
it tells with boldness that the believer shall awake 
in his likeness and follow him who was the firstfruits. 
Stand here and look on this simple act of baptism, and 
listen to its sublime utterance while shining somewhat 
in the glory of that coming day for which all other 
days were made. See that grave open in the water, 
whether pool or running stream; newly made as you 
look on; now filled in solemn, painful burial; now 
made empty in the glory and joy of resurrection. Here 



42 Moral Dignify of Baptism. 

God is speaking in formal action what he has said so 
plainly in written word. And the language of this 
noble ordinance is ever the same throughout all times 
in declaration of expectant faith and exultant hope. 
The everlasting word of the Master is heard in this 
simple ordinance : ^'I am the resurrection and the life ; 
he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall 
he live ; I will raise him up at the last day." 

Baptism says : "Behold, I show you a mystery ; the 
trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised in- 
corruptible.'' 'We look for the Saviour, the Lord 
Jesus Christ, who shall change our vile body, that it 
may be 'fashioned like unto his glorious body." 

Baptism says: "If we believe that Jesus died and 
rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will 
God bring with him." "The Lord himself shall de- 
scend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the 
archangel, and with the trump of God; and the dead 
in Christ shall rise." 

Baptism says: "It doth not yet appear what we 
shall be; but we know that, when he shall appear, we 
shall be like him ; for we shall see him as he is." "Then 
shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, 
Death is swallowed up in victory." 

Baptism as if making mockery at the long unbroken 
triumph which death has wrought in the world is the 
chorus of the resurrection song: "O death, where is 
thy sting! O grave, where is thy victory! Thanks 
be to God which giveth us the victory through our 
Lord Jesus Christ." 



Moral Dignity of the Act. 43 

Oh this wondrous, wondrous voice ! This voice from 
the water-grave, as it opens before our very eyes, then 
receives its subject and closes, while all is hushed and 
still, and then gives up its dead for a new life to the 
honor and glory of God ! 

I beheve the voice of the monument as it testifies for 
the resurrection of Jesus; I believe the voice also of 
this prophecy for the future, foretelling the resurrec- 
tion of the dead. Here this simple ordinance becomes 
sublime, and is covered all over with the glory of that 
day when the cross shall make way for the crown, the 
grave for the throne, death for life and immortality. 
As the mountain lifting itself above the darkness of the 
valley, catches the first rays of the morning sun, so 
this ordinance standing through the ages and telling 
the wondrous story of the past, shines also in the com- 
ing glory of the resurrection so beautifully foretold in 
its simple form. 

Resurrection in Fact and Figure. 

And so resurrection is the key word in the study of 
this ordinance — the resurrection in fact and figure. 
In fact, the resurrection of Christ, the resurrection 
wrought in the heart, the resurrection wrought at the 
last day. In figure, baptism stands for these mighty 
events in human history and experience. Their glory 
becomes its glory; their sublime character gives it 
moral standing and dignity. It wears upon its very 
'brow the crown of faith and hope; v/ith it destroyed, 



44 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

or even marred, there is no figure to show in visible 
form these wonders wrought and to be wrought by 
divine power. 

It is of tremendous moment that God has appointed 
this institution as an ordinance in his kingdom, charged 
it with such wonderful meaning, and set it at the very 
threshold of the new life, as almost its first manifes- 
tation. And to us is committed the high and holy 
trust of preserving its integrity as it came from his 
hands. Its claim upon us is imperative, if we will 
follow our Saviour's example, and keep his commands, 
and preserve inviolate our sacred trust. 

It is "the answer of a good conscience," and brings 
peace and satisfaction in the sense of doing what God 
commanded. The renewed conscience, quickened and 
made pure by the Holy Spirit, utters again the word of 
the Master at the Jordan, "Suffer it to be so now, for 
thus it becometh us to fulfill all righteousness/' and 
baptism is our answer to that high call — the answer of 
a good conscience. And as in solemn obedience we 
follow Christ in his appointed way, walking in his 
steps, upon our baptism as an individual act rest the 
glory of ages past and the glory of ages yet to come. 



CHAPTER III. 

BAPTISM OF JESUS IN THE JORDAN. 

"And it came to pass in those days, that Jesus came 
from Nazareth of GaHlee, and was baptized of John in 
Jordan. 

"And straightway coming up out of the water, he saw 
the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descend- 
ing upon him : 

"And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art 
my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." (Mark i : 
9-II.) 

IN the simplest language the evangelist here relates 
one of the most remarkable events in human 
history. No word of ours can add to its simple 
grandeur. Here we may pause and uncover in the 
sublime presence, wondering what it all means while 
we hear him calling, "Follow me," as he passes out 
through the Jordan from his private life to his public 
ministry. 

That Jesus should be baptized is itself a simple fact 
though of startHng wonder, and all the more since he 
took pains to come from his home in Nazareth and 
seek baptism at the hands of John, and then was bap- 
tized in the Jordan vv^ith such circum.stances as are 
here related. And yet the chief feature in that august 
scene, the most remarkable part of it all, was Jesus 
himself, with his quiet, commanding and even lofty 

(45) 



46 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

conduct — that Jesus should be baptized of John in the 
Jordan as the multitudes had been. This must ever 
remain an extraordinary event in his wonderful life. 

When the angels made announcement of his birth at 
Bethlehem, their startling word was, unto you is born 
a Saviour, Christ the Lord — the marvelous paradox 
that the Lord is born, born of woman, made under the 
law, a Httle lower than the angels. The prophet's word 
of forecast, given out hundreds of years before Bethle- 
hem with its manger and marvels, was : "Unto us a 
child is born, unto us a Son is given; his name shall 
be called Wonderful, Counsellor, Mighty God, Ever- 
lasting Father, Prince of Peace." The apostle's word 
of historic record several years after, was : "In the be- 
ginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, 
and the Word was God. The Word became flesh, and 
dwelt among men, and we beheld his glory as the glory 
of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and 
truth." 

This Person, this Being comes from Nazareth, comes 
to John, comes to the Jordan, comes to baptism, and 
conies with marked emphasis and significance. And in 
that scene we behold Christ the Lord baptized — im- 
mersed in the Jordan by his forerunner who came 
to tell of him as the mightier One. And the heavens 
were opened, and the angels looked on with wonder, 
and the Holy Spirit descended dove-like, shedding his 
glory round, and the Father gave his word of approba- 



Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, 47 

tion upon his well-beloved Son — his Son well-beloved 
in this act of public obedience. 



The Ordinance Made Great Forever. 

I. The baptism of Jesus emphasises the importance 
and exalted character of baptism. What place does 
this ordinance hold in your mind and heart, in view of 
that great event in the life of our Lord? There are 
two^opposite tendencies, and each has its advocateSc 
The one says baptism is a ^'mere rite/' a ^^non-essen- 
tial," of little or no consequence, belongs "to things 
extexaal, and we give ourselves to things internatand 
spiritual." And then the ordinance is belittled or neg- 
lected altogether, and one counts it a small matter to 
leave undone the thing which Jesus commanded and 
in which he set the high example for us to follow. 

The other view holds that "bafitism is essential to 
salvation," and is therefore "a saving ordinance.^' This 
view has been an immense evil and peril in the past. 
It has appeared in different forms ; now holding bap- 
tism as synonymous with regeneration or the chief 
instrument in working this great heart-change; now 
as the act of obedience in which salvation is won as a 
prize; now as a condition of pardon and justification. 
It is not easy to record the evils which have come from 
this view. It is, however, not accepted by many people 
at this time, especially in its grosser forms as in the 
centuries gone by. The danger to the ordinance comes 
now from the opposite view — from counting the ordi- 



48 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

nance of no consequence at all, that one can do as he 
pleases about it — let it alone, set it aside, mar it, sub- 
stitute it, or even hold it in derision. 

The baptism of Jesus stands in striking contrast to 
all this, and should awaken our attention and enlist 
our sympathetic study. He was without sin, and his 
baptism was not for salvation; he had no sins to be 
*Vashed away'' in the Jordan; his baptism, and ours 
like his, was in no sense a means of salvation, nor a 
condition of pardon, nor essential to salvation. And 
yet the ordinance has unspeakable emphasis from the 
fact that he was baptized ; that he counted it worth his 
while to come to baptism; that such wonderful and 
even glorious conditions marked his coming to John 
and his immersion in the Jordan; that here he opened 
a highway to all who would come after him, saying, 
This is the way, walk ye in it. 

This should give forever an exalted view ot the 
ordinance, especially when this great event in his life 
is connected with two other facts — viz. : that he him^ 
self set baptism as an ordinance or institution in his 
kingdom and listed it among the commandments set for 
our obedience. That Jesus was baptized and opened a 
highway for us should appeal to the heart ; should draw 
us after him, and save us from any word or spirit that 
undervalues baptism, and should make the ordinance 
our gladness and joy. Listen to his farewell word: 
Lo, I am with you, when you go preaching, when you 
make disciples, when you baptize, when you teach my 
commandments. He opened his ministry with the 



Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, 49 

words, "Suffer it to be so now/' and in the presence 
of the other two Persons in the Trinity was immersed 
in the Jordan; and then closed his earthly ministry 
with the word of command that we baptize "into the 
name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy 
Spirit," as if intending to reproduce the glorious scene 
of the Jordan and so keep his lofty conduct ever before 
the world. 

The Pattern Set for Us. 

2. The Baptism of Jesus sets a pattern for our hap- 
tism as to its form. Ours may not be in the running 
stream, or even out of doors, as was his ; but if modeled 
after his, it must be baptism — an immersion in water as 
he was immersed in the Jordan. John was sent of 
God, and was sent to baptize. His baptism was from 
heaven. He received it not of men, but of God as to 
its subjects and purpose and spirit and form. God had 
given him a pattern, even as he gave Moses a pattern 
in the holy mount, and that pattern stamped with the 
divine signet was passed down to those who came 
after, and made perm.anent in the kingdom of God — 
with this word, that we preserve its subject and pur- 
pose and spirit and form. There may be some dis- 
tinction between "John's baptism and Christian bap- 
tism" in the way of growth and enlargement of mean- 
ing, but there is no difference in form. 

The best learning and scholarship of the world have 
settled four things with marked agreement and beyond 
all peradventure : (i) That the word baptism means 
4 



50 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

immersion; (2) that the baptism of j€s«s was an 
iinmersion in the Jordan; (3) that this word4)aptism 
ia-wliat Christ commanded, and describes the practice 
ol his-4isdpk^4n New^^^ T times and for many 

centuries after ; (4) that any departure from this form, 
on whatever ground the change may have been made 
or is now justified, is a departure from the original 
form and pattern and practice. 

Christ set the pattern in what he did, and com- 
manded the form in what he commanded — an immer- 
sion in water. And no human power or authority can 
change the form or break the pattern without doing 
violence to his word and example. Every one who 
reads the Scriptures can read this for himself. And 
the conclusion of learning and scholarship is also the 
conclusion of devout hearts in their reading and com- 
mon sense interpretation of the word of God. If there 
were "different modes of baptism/' then his choice 
should be our glad choice, and hush forever the spirit 
and claim that it "makes no difference." 

In the study of the life of our Lord there has not 
been sufficient attention given to the scene of the 
Jordan with its wonderful meaning — possibly because 
it leads into the sphere and perhaps even into the spirit 
of controversy. Many have been the students and 
much has been published of that wonderful life among 
men, but scant indeed has been the attention given his 
baptism. There need be no controversy in our study 
of his baptism; neither must there be retirement of 
that august scene of his life, either through fear of 



Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, 51 

controversy or through fear to face the pattern which 
that day he set before the world for all succeeding 
ages. That will work violence to truth in many ways. 
A Presbyterian woman, relating her misgivings as to 
her own baptism and her desire in reading the word 
of God to know and follow its teachings, when asked 
what she did with those passages which speak of bap- 
tism, said: "Oh, I skip them." That is dangerous 
concerning any Scripture, and is a record of fearful 
self-indictment. 

Reference has been made in preceding chapter (page 
18) to Dr. Rainsford's sermon at Northfield on 
the Baptism of Jesus. He was almost the chief speaker 
that year, and was heard on many subjects, and always 
with pleasure. The audience consisted of preachers 
and other earnest Christian workers and students of 
the Scriptures. One morning at the appointed hour 
Dr. Rainsford read the third chapter of Matthew's 
Gospel, commenting as he read and setting the scene 
of John's baptism before his audience with wonderful 
power. Coming to the baptism of Jesus, he paused, 
laid down his Bible, and making that his subject, 
preached a powerful sermon. He insisted, and even 
argued, that Jesus was immersed; that his immersion 
had fundamental doctrinal significance; that it fore- 
told the death on the cross and the resurrection from 
the grave and emphasized their meaning in the scheme 
of redemption. 

His audience followed him through, but he had not 
gone far before one could see that many of them had 



52 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

pushed aside their note books which they used day by 
day in recording the lessons of that truly great meet- 
ing, as if they cared to make no record either of that 
sermon or of the marvelous scene at the Jordan where 
our Lord formally began his life among men. 

In the afternoon a group of preachers were discuss- 
ing the sermon, when one of them, a Presbyterian, 
censured the English preacher, who was an Episco- 
palian, ''for violating the courtesies of the occasion and 
introducing a subject of controversy into an interde- 
nominational meeting where Christians of all names 
were united in the study of God's word." But he was 
reminded that there must be something wrong with 
the religious meeting in which it is out of place to in- 
troduce any event in the life of our Lord, especially so 
great an event as his baptism. The addresses and 
sermons of that meeting were taken down in shorthand 
and published in a book, including those by Dr. Rains- 
ford — all of them so far as I can now recall except the 
one on the Baptism of Jesus. The spirit of the audi- 
ence was the spirit of John, and forbade it; the spirit 
of tbe preacher was the spirit of the Master — "suffer 
it to be so now." 

Controversy has its evils, and has wrought untold 
harm to truth and Christian character and to the 
progress of Christ's kingdom. But so has indifference 
to these great matters which for the most part are the 
subject and occasion of these contentions. We may 
well avoid the controversy, but not at the sacrifice of 
faithfulness in following the Master. We must pre- 



Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, 53 

serve unmarred the pattern or form of baptism which 
has come down to us from the Jordan. 

A good woman of the Episcopal Church once said 
to me: ^^Of course Jesus was immersed, everybody 
believes he was immersed. But that is no reason why 
I should be immersed.'' That is a fearful blunder. 
There has been some discussion as to whether Wash- 
ington was baptized, and if so, where and how; also 
as to whether D. L. Moody was baptized, and if so, 
where and how — as if the action of these great men 
could determine our conduct in a matter so important. 
What they did is of little concern to us. The supreme 
thing as to our baptism is that we follow the pattern 
of our Lord, doing the thing which he commanded 
and the thing which he himself did. His baptism as to 
its form should settle forever the form of our baptism. 

Foretold Death and Resurrection. 

3. The baptism of Jesus foretold^ in emblem what 
afterwards came on Calvary and in the tomb of Joseph, 
There is a tradition that our Lord, on one occasion in 
the workshop at Nazareth, after his day's work, 
straightened and stretched himself up with his arms 
extended, and that the evening sun caught his form 
in this position and cast the shadow of a cross on the 
wall behind him — as if foreshadowing the cross to- 
wards which his whole life was moving. However 
that may be, it is certainly true that with his baptism 
in the Jordan there fell on him and on his life the 



54 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

shadow of the cross that never Hfted, but rather deep- 
ened and darkened until the awful reality came. 

With the Jordan in mind, and looking out upon 
what was yet coming, he utttered those words so full 
of pathos and resolute purpose, "I have a baptism to 
be baptized with, and how am I straitened till it be ac- 
complished !" He saw two mighty events as a second 
baptism, his death on the cross and his resurrection 
from the tomb — an overwhelming in suffering, and 
then a burial and rising again. It likewise was the 
subject of his talk when he met Moses and Elijah on 
the mount of transfiguration. The glory of that oc- 
casion made luminous the shadow that was upon his 
path and that would not lift. 

His baptism in the Jordan, like the believer's bap- 
tism, was an emblem and a prophecy. It foretold his 
death and burial and resurrection. It meant burial 
preceded by death, and then life again from the dead; 
that he would die, but could not be holden of death. 
It was a twofold act — on the one hand the utmost 
humiliation, on the other triumphant joy. 

Jesus foresaw in his baptism what we can easily and 
;tlmost necessarily see from the unfolding of his life 
and from the developm^ent in after years of the doc- 
trine of the cross and the doctrine of the empty tomb. 
The prophecy of his baptism, like all prophecy, is best 
understood and interpreted in its fulfillment — when 
prophecy becomes history. 

We must study his baptism, therefore, in the light 
o£ after events, and can easily discern its deep signifi- 



Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, 55 

cance in foretelling his death as the sinner's substitute, 
and his resurrection as deliverance for all who "believe 
on him who raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead." 
And we cannot separate his baptism either from his 
death and resurrection, or from the meaning of those 
mighty events as they were expounded by the apostles 
when led by the Holy Spirit into all truth. His bap- 
tism led the way and foretold all that came after both 
for himself and for all who should be redeemed through 
him. 



Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; 
was buried and on the third day rose again accord- 
ing to the Scriptures ; was declared to be the Son of God 
with power, according to the spirit of holiness, by the 
resurrection from the dead; he was delivered for our of- 
fenses and was raised again for our justification; while 
we were yet sinners Christ died for us; we are justified 
by his blood and saved from wrath through him ; we are 
reconciled to God by the death of his Son and even much 
more saved by his life — his resurrection life, his work of 
atonement; he who knew no sin was made sin for us that 
we might be made the righteousness of God in him. 



This doctrine so clearly and abundantly taught in 
the word of God, Christ carried with him into his bap- 
tism. The heart grows warm as we think on that 
wondrous scene, and what to some may be but the 
event of a passing day, becomes to us surpassingly 
glorious in its tremendous import and its august sim- 
plicity. 

His baptism declared in advance what he would do 
in order to become the sinner's Saviour; and in his 



56 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

baptism he declared himself one with believers, as in 
their baptism they declare themselves one with him — 
their baptism being not the bond, but the emblem of 
the bond, of union with him. We are buried with him 
by baptism into death, and raised up again to walk in 
newness of life — one with him, sharing in his death as 
our substitute and in all that it brings to the believer, 
sharing also in the joy and glory of his resurrection. 
And the claim of the great apostle may become the 
claim also of the humblest believer: *'I am crucified 
with Christ; nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ 
liveth in me ; and the life which I now live in the flesh, 
I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me 
and gave himself for me.'' Our baptism says that in 
the retrospect; but Christ's baptism said that in the 
prospect. 

A Commanding Lesson. 

4. The baptism of Jesus was an example of lofty 
obedience. Baptism is form, but more than form. We 
insist upon the form because the form is essential to 
the act. But there is much besides of utmost impor- 
tance. The spirit and purpose must go with the form. 
We must not separate them lest we get a corpse in- 
stead of a Hving, healthful body. The form is of 
worth and significance only because of the life and 
spirit and purpose which are within. 

That great day at the Jordan Jesus led the way for 
all that would follow him. He set a pattern for the 



Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan. 57 

form, but also a pattern of noble purpose and spirit and 
commanding obedience in all things. He made no dis- 
tinction in either mind or life between laws essential 
and laws unessential, or between acts of more impor- 
tance and less importance. 'Thus it becometh us to 
fulfill all righteousness." . . . Law was law with 
him, and obedience on his part, solemn observance of 
the thing commanded and confronting him, was the 
only thing he considered. 

This is a large and noble lesson in obedience, and we 
need to learn its fullest import and to walk as he 
walked in the things commanded. His obedience in- 
cluded and even emphasized the form of baptism, but 
was much larger, more comprehensive, more com- 
manding. For while his baptism set the form of bap- 
tism for all succeeding ages, and while it was full of 
lofty purpose peculiar to himself and to his act, yet it 
went further than form, further even than purpose, 
and gave the world a noble exhibition of the spirit of 
obedience. This underlay all else, putting life and 
power into the purpose, worth and beauty into the 
form. 

Our baptism must match his, not only in the pattern 
he set, but also in the purpose and the spirit of his 
act. Our baptism like his declares his sonship ; declares 
his death, burial, and resurrection; declares also our 
union with him and our sonship through him ; declares 
the old life gone and the new life begun. The spirit 
of our baptism, matching his at least in part and kind. 



58 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

IS threefold — ^the spirit of obedience, the spirit of 
loyalty, the spirit of worship. It is of supreme im- 
portance that one should be like Christ in character, 
but hardly second to this in importance that one should 
be like him in life, in words and conduct. Imitating 
Christ is well, but being like him is infinitely more. 
In his baptism he has set us a glorious example of 
inner and outer Hfe, of character and conduct, of spirit 
and form. His spirit of obedience lived in the form ; 
the form was made glorious in his purpose. His bap- 
tism was the form of godliness in the fullness of the 
power thereof. 

At the close of Dr. Rainsford's sermon at Northfield, 
already referred to. Dr. A. T. Pierson led in prayer, 
and in earnest words followed the preacher's thought 
and exposition. One person at least in the audience 
thought within himself, that if Dr. Pierson be true to 
the spirit and words of his soul-moving prayer, he will 
surely follow his Lord in baptism. And the Christian 
world knows that this afterwards came to pass, and 
the man of prayer followed where his prayer led, and 
was baptized as his Lord had been baptized. That was 
the spirit of obedience — the spirit that must reign 
supreme in the heart, commanding our life. It was 
this same spirit of obedience that caused Mr. Spurgeon, 
the great London preacher, to break away from his 
early training and to walk seven miles in search of a 
preacher who would baptize him as Jesus was baptized. 
But why talk of what others have done, when here 



Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan. 59 

before our very eyes, as the end of all controversy, is 
what our Lord did and what our Lord commanded? 



Rightly Estimating Obedience. 

There is danger lest we fail to give sufficient em- 
phasis to obedience, or fail to see obedience in its larger 
sweep and fuller meaning. Baptism, because it does 
not save and is not essential to salvation, is counted a 
"mere rite," an ''external," or "only a command," and 
is fearfully undervalued and even suffers neglect as 
an ordinance in the kingdom of our Lord. Baptism 
as Jesus was baptized is essential to obedience, and 
obedience required baptism of him and requires bap- 
tism of us. It is not a question of salvation, but 
whether one will obey his Lord and follow him in his 
lofty example. To obey is better than sacrifice, and is 
of commanding worth in the eyes of the Lord, and of 
momentous consequence in the life. 

Here our Saviour in the fulfillment of his mission 
gives us an example of obedience, and commands us 
to follow. His obedience was larger than his baptism, 
and yet included and emphasized and glorified his im- 
mersion in the Jordan. That was only one act, but it 
was in sublime harmony with his incomparable life. 
His obedience in baptism was typical of the obedience 
in his whole life. It was his master passion; his con- 
suming thought. ''In the volume of the book it is 
written of me, I come to do thy will, O God." It was 
his meat and drink. It carried him to his first baptism, 



6o Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

and then to his second baptism wherein he was strait- 
ened in soul during his entire life. He became obedi- 
ent unto death, even the death of the cross. This was 
the keynote of his great mission, and is the same 
whether heard in his words at the Jordan or in his 
dying groans at the last. 

He gave us an example in obedience, and passed the 
great principle to his followers : "If ye love me, keep 
my commandments." "Ye are my friends if ye do 
whatsoever I command you." "If any man will be my 
disciple, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, 
and follow me." This is the way he went before us, 
and is the highway of the King. Throughout his life 
he was under the profound and powerful sense of 
inner compulsion. "I must," was supreme with him, 
and gave majestic movement in all he did. But we 
must not mistake his earnestness for the sorrowful 
or even the somber. His face from the first was set as 
though he would go to Jerusalem, and throughout 
there was the dominant spirit, the consecrated purpose 
and resolute action, but joy also in the things set before 
him. His first act was at the Jordan, and so in this 
first act was sounded the word of obedience, and also 
the controlling policy of his wonderful life. 

The Strategic Point in Life. 

And this first word was a triumphant word, as he 
opened the way to conquest. He shows at the very 
first the stronghold of his character and life, uncovers 



Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan. 6i 

the very elements of power by which he is to win his 
victory. What brought him to baptism at the first 
brought him to victory in the end. His spirit of obedi- 
ence, so beautifully illustrated at the Jordan and so 
active unto the finish, was his masterful power of con- 
quest. As with him, this is our victory and our great 
reward. Following his example in the high and noble 
sense is the sure way to the crown. It is of immense 
importance, was for Christ and is for us individually 
and for our people, that we hold this strategic point of 
obedience in the service of God. Obedience to him is 
the unconquerable and the conquering. Following his 
example means victory and safety and everlasting joy. 
In describing the battle of Waterloo, Victor Hugo 
gives a heroic picture of Wellington at a crucial point. 
All day he sat his horse under a great elm on the little 
hill which was the strategic point on all that bloody 
plain and the key to the terrific battle that was raging. 
It was a fearful moment for the soldiers of England and 
her allies. The roar of small arms and the thunder 
of cannon were breaking over him while the bloody 
carnage went on. The balls rained down upon him 
as hail from the driving storm. There he sat, anxious 
but impassive, frigidly heroic like a statue of iron, 
holding the destiny of Europe In his hands. Gordon, 
his faithful aid-de-camp, had just fallen, shot down by 
his side. Another officer pointing to a bursting shell 
near by said with nervous energy: "My lord, if you 
allow yourself to be killed, what are your Instructions 
and what orders do you leave us?" "To follow my 



62 Moral Dignity of Baptism, 

example/' said Wellington. Then to still another 
officer Wellington said: "Hold this spot to the last 
man !" And then the iron duke passed down the thrill- 
ing word to his iron regiments: "O, my men! We 
must not be beat ; what would they say of us in Eng- 
land?'' And later, when the fight had become fiercer, 
"We must die on the spot we now occupy." That is 
what made Waterloo and turned the destiny of na- 
tions ; the holding of that strategic hill. 

Those who have given their hearts to Jesus Christ 
and pledged their allegiance to him are in the midst 
of real and terrific conflicts. They have also their 
strategic point in the battle, their key to the situation, 
and that point is obedience to Christ — simple, straight- 
forward, persistent obedience to their risen Lord; an 
obedience not only in baptism, not even beginning with 
baptism, but in baptism surely, and also in doctrine 
and character and conduct and all Christian endeavor. 
The words of Wellington in an infinitely higher sense 
are the words of our Lord: "Follow my example" — 
"we must hold this place at any cost." He who fails 
here, or abridges here, cannot count himself safe. 
Baptism is in no sense a condition of pardon or a 
means of salvation, but is an act full of lofty import, 
one which Christ has commanded and in which he 
led the way while all heaven looked on and set an 
example for all who would follow him. We must not 
fail here. What will be said of us in succeeding ages — 
what will be said of us beyond the stars? It is not a 
question of salvation at all, but rather of what comes 



Baptism of Jesus in the Jordan, 63 

with salvation, the higher, larger question of love and 
loyalty and devotion in keeping his word and following 
his example. On this act Jesus himself set the seal of 
his mighty word, and in his own baptism left an im- 
perial precedent. Christ's life was a life of obedience. 
He magnified the law by keeping it. It was the passion 
of his soul. He found his meat and drink in doing the 
will of his Father. Doing the will of God is the royal 
badge in the brotherhood of believers. 'Thus it be- 
cometh us to fulfill all righteousness," said our Lord, 
and pressed his way to the Jordan. And his baptism 
gave an everlasting emphasis to the importance of 
obedience, not only in baptism, but also in all things. 

"Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least 
commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called 
the least in the kingdom of heaven." (Matt. 5 : 19.) 

'Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, 
and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which 
built his house upon a rock: and the rain descended, and 
the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that 
house, and it fell not; for it was founded upon a rock.*' 
(Matt. 7: 24, 25.) 

"I will follow thee, my Saviour, 
Wheresoe'er my lot may be ; 
Where thou goest I will follow. 
Yes, my Lord, 1*11 follow thee. 

I will follow thee, my Saviour, 

Thou didst shed thy blood for me ; 
And though all men shall forsake thee, 

By thy grace I'll follow thee." 



CHAPTER IV. 

JESUS BURIED IN JOSEPH'S NEW TOMB. 

"When the even was come, there came a rich man of 
Arimathea, named Joseph, who also himself was Jesus' 
disciple : He went to Pilate, and begged the body of Jesus. 
Then Pilate commanded the body to be delivered. And 
when Joseph had taken the body, he wrapped it in a clean 
linen cloth, and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had 
hewn out in the rock: and he rolled a great stone to the 
door of the sepulcher, and departed." (Matt. 2y \ 57-61.) 

THIS v^as the end. The career of Jesus had been 
brought to an abrupt and cruel close. He had 
been crucified on the cross by Roman soldiers 
acting under orders from the Roman court, which in 
turn was moved by the Jewish authorities. They had 
their way, and things went as they wanted. Jesus was 
dead. While living he had not where to lay his head, 
and now having been put to death, his body is laid in 
a borrowed tomb. But was this the end? Did death 
end all with him? Was that sepulcher, newly hewn 
from the rock, the terminus of that wonderful life he 
had lived among men? If so, the universe might well 
have put on mourning forever. 

The story of the Gospels is followed up to this point 
by friend and foe with hardly a question of their 
credibility excepting a futile effort made here and 
there to eliminate the supernatural. But if the Gospels 
are genuine and true in what seems the natural and 

(64) 



Jesus Buried in Joseph's New Tomb. 65 

ordinary, so also they must be genuine and true when 
relating things extraordinary and beyond our compre- 
hension. 

The death and burial of Jesus followed his baptism 
in the Jordan by about three years; the one going 
before as a figure and foretelling in advance those 
events which were to come as facts in the course of 
working out his lofty purpose. On that dark day when 
he died on the cross and was buried in Joseph's tomb, 
the prophecy of the Jordan was fulfilled in part and 
passed into history. The account of his death and 
burial is simple enough. To believe that he died and 
v/as buried — to believe these things concerning him 
simply as facts in history, is indeed easy. And yet this 
belief is the basis and almost necessitates the belief in 
the larger event that was to follow, and sets aside 
much of the fooHshness and falsehood that has been 
written in denial of his resurrection on the morning of 
that third day. The Jordan, the cross, the sepulcher, 
are the three things here combined. The baptism in 
the Jordan had cast its shadow before ; its perspective 
as yet was incomplete; its word of prophetic vision 
was fulfilled as yet only in part. It was night, but 
there hung on the horizon a star — the bright and morn- 
ing star that stood like a sentinel waiting for the com- 
ing day. It was the word he had spoken while yet 
alive. 

His Death a Real Death. 

I. His burial verified and emphasized the fact of his 
death. His baptism in the Jordan had said he would 
5 



66 Moral Dignity of Baptism, 

die and be buried; now he is dead and in the tomb. 
Here are two facts of immense importance in their 
bearing on what would come after, and especially in 
a critical study of the question of the resurrection. 
Both of these facts were foretold not only by his bap- 
tism in the Jordan, but also with the plainest speech in 
the teachings of our Lord. His death simply as a fact, 
and his burial simply as a fact, are the things here em- 
phasized as coming within the scope of this discussion. 

It was a part of God's great scheme of human re- 
demption that he should die ; it manifestly came within 
the power of Christ himself, and within the purpose of 
his plan, that he could and would and did lay down his 
life; men played their part, and in wrath and frenzy 
and wickedness crucified the Son of God. Roman 
power and Jewish hate joined hands that day to bring 
on the end, and were successful. But there was a 
masterful hand overruling all and directing every- 
thing according to the "determinate counsel and fore- 
knowledge of God;" and while God was at his best 
giving his Son to die for a lost world, man was at his 
worst putting him to death who came to save. 

The story of his being crucified, as told by the four 
evangelists in language so simple and sincere, leaves 
no possible question as to his death being a real death 
in the fullness of the meaning of that awful word. 
The horrors of the crucifixion ; the conduct of all who 
had anything to do with it ; the unutterable anguish of 
soul manifested in those words on the cross that were 
spoken by the kingly victim while in the agony of 



Jesus Buried in Joseph^s New Tomb. 6y 

death; that driving in of the spear which found its 
way to his heart already broken in the bitterness of 
his sorrow, letting out the blood and water from the 
open wound; the official report from the Roman sol- 
dier to Pilate and Pilate's surrender of the body to 
Joseph; the condition of his body when it came into 
the hands of his friends and their preparation of it 
for his burial and their laying it away in the new 
lomb^ — all these things, each one by itself, and of 
course much more with all combined, show beyond 
every possible doubt that Jesus was dead when taken 
down from the cross. And if he were dead, then he 
was dead. And the theory of his having ^^swooned" 
as an offset and explanation of his resurrection is 
utter folly — as foolish as it is false, absolutely contrary 
to the plainest facts, and out of keeping with the whole 
course of events then current. 

The significance of his death, the doctrine of the 
cross, its place and meaning in the plan of salvation, 
though not in the scope of this discussion, confirms and 
emphasizes the fact of his death. He died for our sins, 
taking the sinner's place as the sinner's substitute; 
shed his blood for the remission of sins ; became sin 
for us, that we might become the righteousness of God 
in him; died the just for the unjust, that God might 
still be just while justifying him that believeth in Jesus. 
He became obedient unto death, even the death of the 
cross, and the believer in him is crucified with him and 
again made alive with him. His death on the cross is 
at once an inexpressible sorrow and inexpressible joy 



68 Moral Dignify of Baptism, 

— herein we died with him, with him also we live again. 
He laid down his life as a voluntary vicarious sin- 
bearer that we might live in him. Our largest hopes 
are born of the world's most awful tragedy, and of 
the darkest and most desperate hour in the experience 
of men. The sight of the cross is the unburdening of 
the sinner's soul. The personal experience of its sav- 
ing power is the greatest joy ever known. ^^He loved 
me and gave himself for me.'' 

I saw one hanging on a tree, 

In agonies and blood; 
He fixed his dying eyes on me 

As near his cross I stood. 

Sure never till my latest breath 

Can I forget that look; 
It seemed to charge me with his death, 

Though not a word he spoke. 

My conscience felt and owned the guilt; 

It plunged me in despair; 
I saw my sins his blood had spilt, 

And helped to nail him there. 

A second look he gave, which said: 

*1 freely all forgive; 
This blood is for thy ransom paid, 

I die that thou mayest live." 

"Where a testament is, there must also of necessity be 
the death of the testator.'' "By so much was Jesus made 
a surety of a better testament." ''He is the propitiation of 
our sins." "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, 
while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." "And the 
blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." 

His death was the sinner's life; in the shedding of 
his blood there was fulness of remission. We are fol- 
lowing facts in the course of events. We emphasize 



Jesus Buried in Joseph's Nezv Tomb. 69 

the cross first simply as an awful fact, and then as 
havhig wonderful meaning. 



Death Made His Burial Necessary. 

2. What to do with his body — now that he was 
dead — was a pressing question. His enemies who- had 
brought him to the cross would gladly have disposed 
of his body according to the custom of the day. for 
those who were put to death as malefactors. This 
would have frustrated God's plan and purpose at its 
crucial and supreme point. For his burial was both 
fact and factor, having its place in prophecy, also 
among the events then coming to pass, and as making 
ready for the mighty consummation of his work. It 
was necessary that he should go down under the 
water at his baptism in the Jordan for the uplifting 
again in sublime emblem. Likewise his burial was 
also necessary — not only to dispose of his lifeless body, 
but also in course of the movement toward his coming 
from the tomb. The emblem is sure to find its reality. 
His disciples did not see this at the time, for it is 
never easy to interpret a storm while in the midst of 
its raging fury. They simply knew he was dead and 
met the emergency. It was a simple service, but of 
immense importance, finding mention by all four evan- 
gelists. They all tell of his crucifixion, and now they 
all tell of his burial Matthew tells it; Mark tells it 
(15: 43-47) ; Luke tells it (23: 51-56) ; John tells it 



70 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

(19: 38-42) — each In his own way and with more or 
less fullness of detail. But with each of them he 
found a burial place and was buried — buried first in 
the Jordan and now in the garden. 

Joseph of Arimathea was the one man to serve in 
this trying moment. He had the position and the 
means and the place and the heart to meet the exigency. 
Perhaps the word borrowed should not be used in 
connection with the new tomb in the garden. And the 
word loan is hardly strong enough or large enough — 
especially when read in the light of later events. With 
Joseph it was a gift — this sepulcher hewn out of a 
rock, made for himself and wherein man never lay — 
a gift of love and the one thing of dire necessity at 
the time. And Nicodemus came also with his spices 
for embalming the body — the same who had sought 
the great Teacher by night to hear his wondrous words. 
These two disciples have been censured for what is 
called timidity or cowardice, the one simply because 
he went to Jesus by night; the other because he had 
not made public his faith in Jesus or *^taken a stand" 
among his disciples. But this act so generous and 
heroic should forever clear them of any such charge 
and give them high rank among those who love our 
Lord. Others were there also and helped. Never 
was there more love and tenderness in a burial, nor 
more earnest and faithful devotion. They all saw 
where the body lay; saw the great stone rolled to the 
door of the sepulcher, and then departed in their sor- 



Jcsiis Buried in Joseph's New Tomb. 71 

row and gloom and despair — their love alone remain- 
ing steadfasto 



The Tomb Made Doubly Secure. 

3. His enemies completed the work. They made 
the tomb sure, and put its sacred treasure under safe- 
keeping. 

'The next day, that followed the preparation, the chief 
priests and Pharisees came together unto Pilate, saying, 
Sir, we remember that that deceiver said, while he was 
yet alive. After three days I will rise again. 

"Command, therefore, that the sepulcher be made sure 
until the third day, lest his disciples come by night, and 
steal him away, and say unto the people. He is risen from 
the dead ; so the last error shall be worse than the first. 

"Pilate said unto them, Ye have a watch; go your way, 
make it as sure as you can. So they went, and made the 
sepulcher sure, sealing the stone, and setting a watch." 
(Matt. 27: 62-66.) 

This incident explains itself. It occurred on what 
we would call Saturday morning after the body had 
been in t'hc tomb since Friday evening. It is the work 
of his enemies who would not be outdone or thwarted 
in their purpose by his disciples. It gives wonderful 
emphasis to the reality and genuineness of his death, 
and adds immensely to the thoroughness of his burial. 
Friend and foe agreed in this, that he was dead and in 
the tomb. The one had no expectation of a resurrec- 
tion notwithstanding the oft-repeated word of their 
Lord. The other had strange misgiving and fears, 
and were determined the tomb should not be disturbed 
and the body should not be removed. The disciples 



'J2 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

had no heart or purpose to take the body away; the 
seal and guard made it absolutely impossible. The 
tomb was as sure as sure could be, and the body as 
safe as safe could be. The enemy meant ill, but over- 
reached himself, and the incident turned out for the 
furtherance of the Gospel. It makes the empty sepul- 
cher when it comes more difficult of explanation. It 
shows how absurd and absolutely impossible are some 
of the theories devised by the learned critics in their 
desperate effort, even in the latter days, to set aside the 
resurrection and to account for what took place on the 
morning of that third day. 

We close this chapter looking on the new tomb of 
Joseph of Arimathea; within Jesus lay dead, and his 
body under the dominion of death but to see no cor- 
ruption; at its door is the great stone sealed with the 
seal of the Roman empire that no man would dare 
touch; without and keeping watch are the Roman 
soldiers, who make it safe against all intruders and 
would-be robbers. 

The Prophecy of His Baptism. 

The end had come. The Jordan having gone before 
was the figure, the new tomb of Joseph was the reality. 
His baptism first of all was a burial, but burial means 
death. The story of the Jordan thus going before 
when John laid him beneath the water of the sacred 
stream was the story first of the cross, then of the 
sepulcher in the garden. Its prophetic word has come 
to pass — he is dead and his body is in the tomb. Will 



Jesus Buried in Joseph's New Tomb, 73 

there be any further fulfillment ? Did the Jordan have 
no message of hope ? 

The darkness that settled on the world while he was 
dying had passed away. But a denser, deeper dark- 
ness was upon the minds and hearts of those who 
loved him. That Friday night — oh, what a night it 
was in the world's history ! And the disciples — where 
were they? Joseph who furnished the tomb and Nic- 
odemus who furnished the spices for burial — position 
and wealth waiting upon our Lord in dire necessity — 
where were they, and what must have been their 
thoughts? And John and Peter and the faithful 
women and all the rest — where were they, and who 
can describe or even imagine their feelings? And all 
day Saturday — as it slowly passed, what a day it must 
have been in the calendar of those who loved him and 
had waited on his ministry ! With them all was dark- 
ness and despair ; there was no hope of a resurrection, 
no thought of a resurrection ; that word on the cross — 
'Tt is finished'' — was to them a word of utter despair 
and sounded the death knell of all their hopes. 

The powers of darkness have their day, and death 
reigned as king of the empire. There was no rainbow 
over the sepulcher where the dead lay. Yet God had 
said he should not be holden of death. The Son him- 
self had said he had power to lay down his life and 
power to take it up again. But these portentious and 
potential words were forgotten and went down as part 
of the awful wreckage — much as now concerning our 
dead and the darkness which comes over our homes. 



74 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

So while the Roman sentinel keeps watch before the 
sepulcher with the great stone at the door sealed with 
the Roman seal, we pass into Saturday night and the 
stars take their place in the heavens and wait for the 
third day. 

Out of Darkness Into Light. 

" 'Mid silence and death lay Judea that night, 

While the Mightiest slept in the tomb ! 
On low-lying plain, on the mountain's proud height, 
Hung the pall of despair and of gloom. 

"Wail, winds, to the sea! Earth's Deliverer is dead, 
They have slain the one hope of the world ! 
Quake, hills, to your base, for the demons have said, 
Trom his throne Heaven's King we have hurled !' 

"Ah ! sad one and weary ! toil on in thy woe ! 
He is dead who could give thee release ! 
On, sinful one, on, in thy restlessness go ; 
He is dead who could say to thee, 'Peace!' 

"But, lo ! there's a flush in the ominous sky, 

The deep rose of dawn is unfolding: 
From the listening earth to the glory on high, 
Thronging angels the scene are beholding. 

"Back, back, roll the stone ! Shout, ye hosts of the skies, 

Lo ! the Conqueror of death and of doom I 
From the silent profound in his might see him rise, 
Clad in deathless, unchangeable bloom ! 

"He lives! We shall live! Tell it, voices of Spring! 
Breathe it, flowers ! Sing it, birds, as ye soar 1 
Creation, unite in the praise of our King! 
Yea, He lives and he dieth no more !" 



CHAPTER V. 

PROBLEM OF THE EMPTY SEPULCHER. 

ON the morning of that third day the sepulcher 
was empty. The body of our Lord had been 
prepared for burial with deHcate tenderness, 
and laid away with great care by his friends, while his 
enemies had made the sepulcher fast and sure. There 
was absolute security from disturbance by any human 
power — to the satisfaction no doubt of friend and foe 
alike. And yet the disturbance came, the seal was 
broken, the stone was rolled away, the body was gone, 
and the sepulcher was empty. Whence came the dis- 
turbance and how came all this ? That is the mightiest 
and most imperial question in human history. It has 
been under the search light for nearly two thousand 
years and has developed but one answer — the resur- 
rection of Jesus. This alone can account for all the 
conditions, explain all the facts, and answer all the tre- 
mendous demands of the new and startling situation. 

In the baptism of Jesus in the Jordan there was first 
an immersion — his being put under the water in sym- 
bol of death and burial ; then there was an emersion — 
a lifting of his body from the water in symbol of ris- 
ing again. No one saw him as he lay beneath the fast 
flowing stream, but he was seen by the multitudes as 
he went up out of the water to enter upon his life 

(75) 



*j6 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

mission. Thousands saw him lay down his life as he 
hung upon the cross ; but no one saw him when in the 
tomb, or when the glory broke in from the further 
side, or when in the supreme, crucial moment he as- 
serted his power over death and the grave in taking 
up his life again. He came forth triumphant as the 
conqueror. The baptism was prophetic in its action; 
the baptized Christ symbolized the risen Christ; and 
now the figure had found its fact. The voice of the 
Jordan was heard in the empty sepulcher and beyond 
the sepulcher. And the prophetic symbol of the Jordan 
found its sublime reality. 

Full discussion of this great theme is not contem- 
plated or required by the scope of the present purpose. 
And yet even the symbol of his baptism demands that 
we account for, (i) the missing body, (2) the empty 
sepulcher, (3) the risen Christ, and (4) the marvelous 
change so speedily wrought among the disciples; a 
change from fear, disappointment, absolute dejection 
and despair, to rapturous joy and a courageous bold- 
ness that knew no bounds. It was as if at midnight 
the sun should suddenly break forth in the splendor of 
noonday. A distinguished critic and opponent of the 
resurrection gives his credence to the genuineness of 
the narratives and to the sincerity of the disciples, and 
confesses in his explanation of their conduct that 
"something remarkable had certainly taken place.'' 
Matthew in his narrative tells what had taken place : 

"And, behold, there was a great earthquake; for the 
angel of the Lord descended from heaven, and came and 



Problem of the Empty Septilcher. yy 

rolled back the stone from the door, and sat upon it. His 
countenance was like lightning, and his raiment white as 
snow; and for fear of him the keepers did shake, and 
became as dead men. . . . And the angel answered 
and said unto the women. Fear not ye: for I know that ye 
seek Jesus, which was crucified. He is not here ; for he is 
risen, as he said. Come, see the place v/here the Lord lay. 
And go quickly, and tell his disciples that he is risen from 
the dead; and, behold, he goeth before you into Galilee; 
there shall ye see him; lo, I have told you." (28: 2-7.) 

This was a break in the world's night, the undoing of 
darkness, and gave the world a new morning. It was 
the overthrow of death and the ushering In of life and 
Immortality. The hour of redemption had come, the 
appointed hour In the economy of grace, and the pow- 
ers wrought their work. When God's messengers ap- 
pear on the scene with commission to raise the dead, 
the resurrection becomes easy, all difficulties stand 
aside, and the grave is empty. 



Face to Face with Fact. 

I. Each of the evangelists brings us face to face in 
his narrative with the tremendous fact of the empty 
sepulcher and absent body. And then their explana- 
tion, more tremendous if possible, is the risen Christ. 
The coming down of the angel explains easily the 
breaking of the Roman seal, the removal of the great 
stone and the disruption of the tomb, while the risen 
Christ himself Is ample and glorious explanation of the 
missing body, and of the empty sepulcher, and of the 
sudden ^transformation of the disciples, and of the 



78 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

mighty spiritual power which that event has held over 
the hearts of men from that day to this. 

It is difficult, perhaps impossible, to determine the 
order of events on that first day, especially in the early 
morning hours. But this is not necessary. And yet 
starting with the dawn of that first morning one may 
follow on till he sees the Risen Christ finish his risen 
life on earth and ascend to the right hand of the 
Majesty on high, leading captivity captive. 

(i) His appearance to the women. (Matt. 28: 8- 
10; Mark 16: 2-11 ; Luke 24: 2-12, and John 20: i, 2, 
11-18.) 

(2) Peter and John within the sepulcher. (Luke 
24: 12; John 20: 1-8.) 

(3) The testimony of the Roman guard who 
watched at the sepulcher. (Matt. 28: 11-15.) 

(4) The walk to Emmaus. (Luke 24: 13-35.) 

(5) His appearance to the disciples, first with 
Thomas absent, and then eight days later when he was 
present. (Luke 24: 36-47; John 20: 19-22, 24-29.) 
And somewhere, most likely among the first events of 
the first morning, he appeared at one time to James 
and then to Simon Peter. 

(6) Meets his disciples at the sea of Tiberias while 
they were fishing. (John 21 : 1-25.) 

(7) His appearance to five hundred disciples at 
once. (Matt. 28 : 16-20; i Cor. 15 : 6.) 

(8) His ascension to the right hand of the Majesty 
on high. (Mark 16: 15, 16, 19, 20; Luke 24: 49-53; 
Acts 1 : 9-1 1.) 



Problem of the Empty Sepulcher, yg 

This is the record — the historical record. And no 

other forty days in the world's history were so crowded 
with such transcendent scenes and incidents. As told 
by the evangelists the record is genuine and sincere 
and trustworthy and accredited. They relate the most 
marvelous events in the simplest language possible, 
making no effort at effectiveness, but resting simply 
in the consciousness that they were telling the truth. 
Their record is the most marvelous document in the 
world's literature. None has been so severely tested 
or is more impregnable as being the simple truth about 
the mightiest of facts. 

The Historic Basis Impregnable. 

2. The empty sepulcher and his risen life give the 
historic basis for belief in the resurrection of Jesus. 
These are facts well authenticated. The resurrection 
may be considered as a doctrine in the Christian sys- 
tem, or as a moral power in the world's thought and 
experience, or simply as a fact in history. These three 
can hardly be separated except for discussion and 
emphasis. In either respect it is of tremendous im- 
port. First and foremost it must be fact, otherwise all 
else comes to naught. 

(i) In our inquiry as to its truthfulness the basal 
point, the starting place which all can test is the empty 
sepulcher; the simple fact that it was empty on the 
morning of that third day. No investigation is com- 
plete or trustworthy that does not account for the dis- 



8o Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

appearance of the body and the empty sepulcher. And 
right here at this basal point every effort at explana- 
tion must fail that will not follow and account for the 
historic narrative of the evangelists. 

(2) Every other question comes back to this as the 
first and basal question, Was the grave empty and was 
the body gone? And everything in the narratives 
answers in the affirmative without break or shadow of 
doubt. It finds confirmation even in the testimony of 
the Roman guard. They said the body, left in their 
charge, was gone, and that the grave under their 
watch was empty — and then perpetrated a brazen-face 
falsehood in explanation. Their falsehood is manifest, 
but their testimony remains in harmony with all the 
facts. The empty sepulcher baffles the unbeliever, 
while it is the believer's joy. Here the investigation 
starts, but it does not end here. 

The risen Christ himself is the glory of the resur- 
rection and its convincement. Here is the impregnable 
basis for our belief. The historic Christ whether be- 
fore or after the resurrection is the incomparable and 
unanswerable. Those who have seen him and felt his 
power will never question. How quickly the empty 
sepulcher was either forgotten or made luminous in 
the glory of the resurrection ! The women, even Mary 
weeping in the garden, cared little for the sepulcher, 
when they had met the Lord himself. Peter and John 
went in and inspected the place where the Lord had 
lain, and went away, the one wondering and the other 
believing because of what they had seen, and yet all 



Problem of the Empty Sepiilcher. 8 1 

that took second place when they found themselves face 
to face with the risen Christ and talked with him. 
Those two disciples going off to Emmaus had given 
up everything as lost, were so utterly undone that they 
would not even listen to the startling reports that be- 
gan to stir the city, but the risen Christ intercepted 
and rescued them, and so they returned to tell that they 
had seen the Lord. And Thomas, the most persistent 
of all in his unbelief, would not believe upon testimony, 
even trustworthy testimony, but in the vehemence and 
despair of his disbelief, demanded physical demonstra- 
tion, personal touch and experience, yet when he saw 
that matchless form with the awful marks of the cross 
still upon him, was swept as with a mighty cyclone in 
the depths of his soul, and uttered words that have 
come ringing down the centuries — ^'My Lord and my 
God!" This was the end of all controversy, and the 
disciples stood a unit in their belief — a belief that had 
quickly passed into knowledge — that Jesus the Lord 
had risen from the dead — a knowledge that could not 
be shaken. 

What a wonderful change had come in their condi- 
tion of heart and mind, and also in their conduct to- 
ward the world, toward the resurrection, toward even 
the risen Christ! Eight days after the empty sepul- 
cher was found, every disciple of the Lord answered 
the mighty problem with the risen Lord — slow enough 
of belief to show there was no hallucination wrought 
upon themselves or others, and yet quick enough and 
radical enough to mark their belief and joy as the 



82 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

greatest change that ever occurred with so many men 
in so short a time. They knew he was dead when laid 
in the sepulcher, and they knew also that he was alive 
and was among them, their Lord as of old, with other 
and larger and mightier powers. They never wavered 
from this. Their faith was never shaken, and yet by 
it they have shaken the world — and made all the world 
wonder. 



Maintaining Unbroken Consistency. 

3. In his risen life Jesus developed a distinct and 
marvelous resurrection condition and method. The 
changes which had come were consistent with what 
had preceded, indeed were an addition and outgrowth 
of what had gone before. 

In his person and character and condition there was, 
from his birth at Bethlehem to his ascension from 
Olivet, a gradual unfolding — each advancement con- 
firming and being in accord with its antecedents. 
From beginning to end there was the utmost consist- 
ency and accord. If there be an exception to this, 
the exception is his death — his death not as seen by us 
in the Hght of after-events, but as taken in relation to 
the mighty sweep of events, current in those three 
years he walked the earth and rooting themselves 
back as they did into his wonderful birth. 

Why should this man die? Nay, how could this 
man die? Considered at his birth, at the Jordan, in 
his masterful conquest in the temptation, in his fre- 



Problem of the Empty Sepulcher. 83 

quent and abundant casting out of devils, in his mani- 
fest power over disease and death even in aggravated 
forms, in his glory of transfiguration, in the perfect 
ease with which he wrought his miracles of words and 
works, he was beyond and above death — with all hav- 
ing gone before, his death is apparently the one single 
discordant note in the song of his life. "He saved 
others, himself he cannot save ;" "Let him come down 
from the cross and we will believe in him" — these 
words were hurled at him in derision, and yet were but 
the demand that he maintain in that awful hour the 
consistency which had reigned supreme throughout his 
life. Why stand death off from others by the wave of 
his hand, and still be impotent for himself in that 
dreadful moment? Not only why^ but how? His 
death and his being held under the power of death 
for a period are the most difficult of explanation of 
anything in his whole life. This was the wonder of 
angels. 

And yet there is another side to all that. Conditions 
which make that one discord add charm and power to 
the music of his life. He had said with masterfulness 
and calmness, that he could lay down his life, that 
he had within himself the power to die; that no man 
could take his life from him, but he would lay it down 
of himself in working out his mission to save; that 
wicked men would lay violent hands upon him and put 
him to death ; that while legions of angels awaited his 
call, he would of himself go upon the cross and lay 
down his life. His death as we see it now was the 



84 Moral Dignify of Baptism. 

irresistible onward march of events which were still 
under the guiding of his own hand and made to work 
out and complete his own plans. 

He said, furthermore, that he could take up his life 
again, and would after he had once laid it down; 
that he would rise again; that he would meet his dis- 
ciples afterwards at appointed place and time. All 
this came to pass, and his resurrection and risen life 
are in complete harmony with those years when he had 
lived among men, working his works of wonder and 
speaking words full of marvelous meaning. 

Great changes had come, and yet he was the same — 
no break in his personal identity, no loss but rather 
gain in power; showing in his risen body the first- 
fruits of the resurrection — his resurrection being the 
■pledge of the believer's resurrection, his body the 
model and pattern of their risen body. He walked 
with them; they walked with him, saw him ascend 
into glory, and then turned to fill the world with the 
story of his doctrine. 

Natural and Supernatural. 

4. The supernatural cannot be eliminated from the 
life of Jesus. With that gone he is no longer the his- 
toric Christ. It enters in as a very part of himself. 
Indeed the supernatural sphere, the sphere of miracle, 
was verily his natural sphere. We wonder that he rose 
again ; the angels wondered that he could die. But the 



Problem of the Empty Septdcher, 85 

resurrection with them was the easy, natural, inevitable 
thing. 

Natural and supernatural are but relative terms. 
The down and the up depend on where you stand; 
depended on where Christ stood. He was at home in 
the supernatural. All nature did his bidding, whether 
wind or wave or loaf of bread or firkin of water or 
blighting disease or decaying death or raging devils — 
all heard his voice alike and did what he commanded. 
His resurrection verified and confirmed all his other 
claims, and is largely the key to his character and life. 
It is easier to believe in him with it than to believe in 
him without it. The world will believe in Christ risen 
from the dead, but not othervv^ise. 

The supernatural in his life may be presented in the 
figure of an arch with its five parts^ — on either side a 
base, an uprising arm, and then the key-stone that 
makes it fast. Here in the fife of Jesus we have one 
base the miracle of incarnation, the other base the 
miracle of resurrection; in the arch, on one side the 
miracle of his works, on the other the miracle of his 
words, and in the key-stone the miracle of his char- 
acter, on which all depends and by which all is bound 
into one symmetrical and immovable whole. Here rest 
the hopes of the world. No one part can stand by itself ; 
no one part can be removed without the breaking 
and destruction of the whole. He began his life in a 
miracle that made the angels sing, and closed his life 
in a miracle that lit up all the others with a crown of 
glory. This arch made of these five miracles, in con- 



86 Moral Dignify of Baptism. 

solidated mass, has withstood all assaults, and can never 
be broken. It has stood the joy and song of his people 
for ages past, and will stand for ages yet to comeo 



Setting Baptism for the Centuries. 

Before ascending on high, and with larger purpose 
and promise for the future, the risen Lord sent his 
disciples on their life mission, and gave them this final 
word: ''Go ye therefore and make disciples of all na- 
tions, baptizing them into the name of the Father, and 
of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit ; teaching them to 
observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you ; 
and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the 
world." Baptism is placed here, not as chief part of 
course, and yet as distinct and distinguishing in a 
marvelous way, and is crowded with memories that 
must forever hold it in lofty conception. In his com- 
mission and command to all who will be loyal to him, 
he reproduces the Jordan and projects his own baptism 
into succeeding ages by the baptism of believers. Oh, 
it is wonderful and forever crowns baptism with re- 
nown and glory that in this supreme moment, Jesus 
unites it with his own baptism in the Jordan, sets it 
as a permanent memorial rite for observance by his 
disciples, and connects it in august majesty with the 
Trinity, and gives it the promise of his personal pres- 
ence when we walk his ways and keep his command- 
ments. 

His baptism and ours have their meeting place, their 



Problem of the Empty Sepidcher, 87 

common ground in his resurrection — the one fore- 
telling, the other commemorative of the empty sepul- 
cher and of the risen Christ. The one as a prophetic 
forecast was full of his resurrection as a sublime story 
of the future, the other as a monument shines in the 
splendor of that achievement of God's grace when he 
raised him from the dead. And the glory of the resur- 
rection and of the risen Christ is upon the baptism of 
every believer. 

The ordinary is given the exceptional and command- 
ing position of the extraordinary. During his life- 
time his miracles for the most part had a human and 
even physical basis — human, eyes received sight from 
the divine touch, human bodies were made whole, and 
human dead were made alive, while water from the 
earth was made wine, and nature's elements of wind 
and sea were silenced in their fury by the divine word 
— the natural being the basis for the work of the super- 
natural. And now in sending his Gospel abroad he 
appoints this simple ordinance — the baptism of be- 
lievers, their immersion in water — and gives it a mar- 
velous place in his kingdom. He gave it no mystic 
or spiritual power of any kind, nothing whatever of 
efficacy for saving or helping to save. And yet he 
makes this physical act sublime in spiritual meaning. 
The natural is again made to bear the message of the 
supernatural. In this ordinance as emblem he sets 
before the world forever what he wrought in the tomb 
on the morning of that third day, making it the herald 
and memorial picture of the mightiest of all his mira- 



88 Moral Dignify of Baptism. 

cles. His baptism had told that it was coming; our 
baptism tells that it came, and for all succeeding ages 
stands for the empty sepulcher, sublime in the splendor 
of his resurrection. "The dignity of this act was worth 
the audience of kings and princes," and has had the 
audience of angels and of those higher than angels. 

It is of manifest importance that we hold these 
matters as he placed them. That final word was the 
word of command. The Great Commission is the law 
of his disciples, and holds within itself the whole life 
and missions of his churches. He himself has set bap- 
tism in its place. To think what he thinks is the 
highest thinking ; to do what he has commanded is the 
highest living. Otherwise we could never be sure we 
are right. In the Commission he commands us what 
to do ; in the Jordan, by his own lofty act, he gave us 
an example what to do. Having given his' law, he 
went on high, and left its fulfillment with those who 
love him. 



CHAPTER VI. 

BAPTISM AND OTHER MONUMENTS. 

HERE baptism holds a distinguished place, and 
as a monument commemorates and certifies 
the resurrection of Jesus. It does not stand 
by itself, but holds high rank with others as monu- 
mental evidence. Here the ordinance is magnified, 
and its moral dignity becomes conspicuous and com- 
manding. It stands in the renown and glory of that 
wondrous achievement of our Lord when he triumphed 
over death and the grave. In lofty character and pur- 
pose it appeals to the heart and mind, and asks for a 
holy place in our thoughts and affections and in all 
our talk concerning it. To miss this view of baptism 
is to utterly fail in rightful conception of its meaning. 
The sight of its administration is as if we looked again 
into the empty sepulcher, while the baptized believer 
stands before all the world as a living voice for the 
risen Christ. 

All True or All False. 

I. That Jesus rose from the dead the disciples had 
what they considered "many infallible proofs." Their 
infallible proofs have come down to us, not only not 
weakened or impaired in any way, but rather strength- 
ened through the centuries in cumulative and invin- 

(89) 



00 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

cible power. Certifying his own resurrection beyond 
all peradventure and himself the risen one, Jesus gave 
^'commandments unto the apostles whom he had 
chosen: to whom also he shewed himself alive after 
his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of 
them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining 
to the kingdom of God/' (Acts i : 2, 3.) 

This wonderful statement is fact or false; true in 
its fullness, or altogether false. There is no middle 
ground in this momentous issue. The disciples were not 
mistaken ; were not deceived — neither self-deceived 
nor deceived by others. All of them, Matthew, Mark, 
Luke, John, Peter, Paul, and all the rest, separate and 
together, either tell the truth or bear false witness. 
Either Jesus rose from the dead, or else as one said, 
speaking for all, "We are found false witnesses of 
God; because we have testified of God that he raised 
up Christ." And their character, itself a moral miracle 
and stupendous wonder, verifies and gives impregnable 
support to their statement. Falsehood here, from these 
men and concerning such a matter and leading out into 
a life that must forever be the charm and wonder of 
the world, is an absolute impossibility. They told the 
truth; they knew they told the truth; their testimony 
stood and could not be shaken, sealed sometimes by 
death, and always by the noblest life; and their final 
word was "now is Christ risen from the dead/' 

Moreover, as another issue, if this be not true as a 
historic fact, "if Christ be not risen,'' then all else 
comes to naught — ^absolutelv, and the wreck in the 



Baptism and Other Monuments. 91 

moral domain is complete and universal ; while a fear- 
ful and enormous break is made in the world's history 
that is beyond repair. It is easier to believe in the 
resurrection of Jesus, with its tremendous antecedents 
and concomitants and issues, than to cancel the two 
thousand years of history that lie behind us, stretching 
back to the empty sepulcher and on beyond to that 
awful display of death on the cross and still beyond to 
that wonderful life among men. 

The resurrection of Jesus must first he history, else 
it can have no doctrinal character and its spiritual 
power in the world cannot be accounted for. And this 
spiritual power, so prevalent and mighty today, so oper- 
ative and cumulative in energy through so many cen- 
turies and throughout so many countries, remains unex- 
plained and inexplicable. And yet it demands an ex- 
planation. Any investigation of the resurrection must 
account for the moral power of the resurrection, as 
well as for all other facts, whether in the open lives of 
men or in their spiritual experiences. What one knows 
as a heart experience is a manifest fact, and must be 
catalogued with other facts, and must be accounted 
for. In the experiences of men succeeding one another 
through the ages, there is an unbroken chain — every 
link of which demands explanation — reaching back to 
those first disciples in that first week, to the empty 
sepulcher and the risen Christ. This might itself be 
put down as monumental evidence for the resurrection 
of Jesus, though it hardly comes within the scope of 
the present discussion. And yet any full and thorough 



92 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

investigation of this potent question in history must 
include and account for all the facts, if the inquiry be 
philosophical and the answer scientific. 



Put to the Severest Test. 

This is an age of investigation. Everything far off 
is tested by the telescope as if searching for the very 
home of the stars, and even the very throne of Jeho- 
vah itself. Everything near at hand is put under the 
microscope, and the thing infinitely small is made to 
tell wonders more difficult of belief than either the 
invisible God or the resurrection of the dead. All 
literature and all history are put under the search-light 
as if to clear away everything that is fancy or fiction, 
and leave nothing or have nothing, except that which 
is fact and that which is truth. This is the spirit and 
work and purpose of the day. 

And yet, after all this, some things are settled and 
fixed — unmoved and Immovable. And in every sphere, 
fact and truth are not only verified, but remain in ever- 
lasting steadfastness. Christ's person and character 
and life and death and resurrection are first and fore- 
most historical matters, and so come within the sphere 
of historical inquiry and investigation. These all stand 
or fall together; they are true throughout from the 
manger to the empty sepulcher, or true not at all. 

He himself is a glorious reality in the drama of 
human events. His resurrection from the dead is a 
reality — not a myth, not to be compared with myths; 



Baptism and Other Monuments. 93 

not a "philosophical hypothesis" as a working basis 
for investigation, though it serves well for such a pur- 
pose when honestly used ; not a mere theory or specu- 
lation in any sense, but to be listed in a class altogether 
and radically different; simply a fact, and the most 
stupendous fact of the ages. Christ himself is the one 
incomparable person in all history, and his resurrection 
the crucial point in his character and conduct and 
teaching and plan of human redemption. 

And nothing in human history has been so severely 
tested, and nothing more thoroughly or certainly at- 
tested. 'We have not followed cunningly devised fa- 
bles.'' These things are true — by the verdict of the 
centuries and by the world's best investigations. Nie- 
buhr, who invented the "critical method" in the study 
of history, turned his method on the Gospel story with 
a kindly but faithful and steady hand, and came out of 
his investigation with the sunlight on his brow, and 
declared in the presence of the king of Prussia : "I will 
lay my head on the block for the divinity of Jesus." 

Great events in history have left their monuments, 
sometimes in stone, more frequently otherwise. Her- 
bert B. Adams, Professor of History in Johns Hopkins 
University, writing about old William and Mary Col- 
lege, in Virginia, declares : "Institutions of learning 
are after all nobler monuments to great men and great 
events than are obelisks or statues of marble." Insti- 
tutions which men have builded are their glory and 
their witnesses forever. They tell the truth from one 
century to another. 



94 Moral Dignity of Baptism, 

The resurrection of Jesus as an event wrought itself 
indeHbly and inseparably into the history of the ages, 
and left its monuments, not in granite shafts, but in 
something more enduring, something more teUing on 
the generations as they come and go. These monu- 
ments are found in institutions which Christ ordained 
and which remain with us to this day. They are his 
witnesses, and their testimony may be used and known 
by all men. 

Naming and Emphasizing the Monuments. 

2. The monuments to be considered. These four 
meet the present purpose: the New Testament, the 
Lord's Day, the Ordinance of Baptism, and the Church 
of God. They commemorate the resurrection of Jesus 
and furnish an unbroken line of monumental evidence 
for separate and distinct study. They stand along the 
highway over which the march of history has come, 
and lead back inevitably to the open sepulcher and 
the risen Christ, The word Christian is one of the 
most powerful words in the whole range of human 
speech. Even in its most corrupt forms and in the 
most fearful looseness of its usage, the word yet re- 
tains its heart-meaning and stands for Christ and the 
things and the persons who are his. 

The New Book. 

(i) The Christian Scriptures — the New Testament, 
— This is a monument in literature, and its evidence is 



Baptism and Other M ointments, 95 

documentary evidence. Prior to the resurrection there 
had been the Hebrew Bible, corresponding to our Old 
Testament Scriptures. With the Jews it was sacred, 
holy, scrupulously guarded, and their highest authority 
in the settlement of religious questions. But here is 
a New Testament, not contradicting or opposing the 
Old ; not removing or superseding the Old ; but simply 
an addition, completing and fulfilling the Old. The 
Old and the New, though independent, are wrought 
into one book — the Book of books. It is a historical 
fact, a literary wonder, a document which commemo- 
rates and testifies and certifies. It is full of the resur- 
rection of Jesus. This wondrous story is the burden 
of its song. Had there been no empty sepulcher and 
no resurrection, then there had been no New Testa- 
ment; the resurrection explains the existence and 
power of the New Testament. It is a monument of 
the event — a monument in writing — and here is its 
inscription : 

"Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; 
he was buried and rose again according to the Scriptures. 
He is risen as he said. Now is Christ risen and become 
the first fruits of them that slept. And was declared to 
be the Son of God with power by the resurrection from 
the dead.'' 

Had the story of the Gospels ended where Renan 
ends his Life of Jesus, and Lew Wallace his charming 
story of Ben Hur, without a resurrection or a risen 
Christ, then the world's night had been a night with- 
out a daw^n. And what is more, the story would have 
been incomplete and inexplicable. Eliminate from its 



96 Moral Dignity of Baptism, 

pages all reference to the resurrection, and what a 
book you will have ! In its mutilation its light and life 
would go out. It would be a dead book forever. It 
would not have lived to this day. Indeed the world 
would not believe or receive the New Testament did it 
not tell of that wonderful morning when Jesus rose 
from the dead. As a monument it is not hoary with 
age, but is luminous in the glory of that far-off event. 
And its evidence is monumental evidence, confronting 
the student of history and demanding to be heard. Its 
voice will not be hushed — a living book speaking for a 
living Christ. 

The New Day. 

(2) The Christian Sabbath — the Lord's Day, — The 
Jews had their Sabbath. It was ancient and memorable 
and sacred. But there came a change. The old day 
was superseded by a new day — Saturday by Sunday. 
The old disappeared before the new as the morning 
star goes out before the rising sun. The first day of 
the week became the Lord's Day — the lordliest of all 
the seven. Christians, both Jews and Gentiles alike, 
accepted it as their day for celebrating their Lord's 
resurrection from the dead. On that first day of the 
week they found the stone rolled away and the tomb 
empty, and then met him in his risen glory and power. 
Eight days later, marking the first week in his risen 
life, he was with them again, crowned as their Lord 
and their God. And ever since the day has been mem- 
orable, returning every week and repeated one hundred 



Baptism and Other Monuments. 97 

thousand times in the course of the years. Its commem- 
orative significance may be traced along the centuries 
until now on this day songs of praise for the risen and 
glorified Christ can be heard around the world. 

The resurrection of Jesus as a mighty event in the 
world's history made a change in the world's calendar 
— gave to the world a new date, to an old day a new 
glory. The Lord's Day in the world's dates means the 
Lord's resurrection in the world's history. And so it 
stands as a monument of that achievement, and here 
is its inscription : 

''Christ died for our sins, and rose again the third day 
for our justification." 

''Now when Jesus was risen early the first day of the 
week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene. 

"As the women went to tell his disciples, Jesus met them 
saying, 'All hail.' 

"In the Spirit of the Lord on the Lord's day." 

An ordinary day in the week becomes forthwith ex- 
traordinary in its significance — a monumental day with 
monumental testimony of this mighty work of God's 
grace, as the first Sabbath was monumental of God's 
creative act in the completion of creation. The first 
was glorious, the second excelled in glory. 

The New Ordinance. 

(3) Christian Baptisrd — the Immersion of Believers. 
It is a monumental ordinance, commemorating three 
acts — death, burial, and resurrection of the Son of God. 

The Jews aforetime had their ceremonies and ablu- 
tions. But these as a vesture were laid aside and God 

7 



98 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

sent John to baptize. In answer to that high call Jesus 
himself came and was baptized of John — immersed in 
the Jordan. And later he commanded his disciples to 
baptize, and to be baptized as he himself was baptized. 
He appointed two ordinances, only two, and remark- 
able for their simplicity — Baptism and the Lord's 
Supper. Both of them are memorials — each a separate, 
distinct monument bearing its testimony to events con- 
cerning our Lord. The supper is a memorial of his 
death, of the shedding of his blood, of the cross in its 
awful expiation for sin, and is observed in memory 
of him as his Testament written in his blood. 

Baptism also testifies for his death; is a memorial 
of his dying on the accursed tree, but goes further. It 
stands for the cross, but also represents the new tomb 
of Joseph of Arimathea ; is a memorial of his burial and 
his resurrection. Herein is the glory of our baptism. 
This is almost the chief, if indeed not altogether the 
chief, office of baptism — to tell this wonderful story 
of how he died for our sins and was buried and rose 
again and is alive for evermore. And every baptism 
from that day to this has served the same lofty pur- 
pose, when the believer is immersed "into the name of 
the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.'^ 

So baptism is a monument with monumental evi- 
dence of the resurrection of Jesus. Here is its in- 
scription : 

"He was crucified; he is risen; he is not here; behold 
the place where they laid him ; come, see the place where 
the Lord lay. We are buried with him by baptism into 
■death ; that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by 



Baptism and Other Monuments, 99 

the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in 
newness of life." 

Baptism holds a distinctive and almost pre-eminent 
place among the monuments in its pictorial testimony 
for the resurrection. Like the new book and the new 
day, baptism gets monumental character from being an 
ordinance ordained by Christ and remaining unto this 
day. But it goes beyond the others, because of its 
striking pictorial, spectacular resemblance to the very 
act which it commemorates. It is, wherever and when- 
ever repeated, as if another burial and resurrection 
were accomplished before our very eyes. In the ordi- 
nance of baptism the stupendous fact comes face to 
face with its sublime figure. The one is the original, 
while the other is its picture — as if a photograph had 
been taken on that first day of the week, and passed 
down the centuries, showing us again the empty sepul- 
cher and the risen Christ. Here we have an immer- 
sion, emblem of all the horrors of death and burial 
from which the human heart shrinks ; here also we have 
an emersion, emblem of his rising again from the dead 
in triumphant and rapturous joy. Two pictures in one ; 
here a burial scene with a song of sorrow and a v/ail of 
anguish; but there an outburst of joy, while a splendor 
from on high lights up the scene. 

It is beyond mortal man to make a rite at once so 
simple and yet so marvelous in figurative meaning and 
illustrative power. What is said by words in the Book 
and by the weekly observance of tbe Lord's Day, is 
said in baptism by its pictorial representation of being 



100 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

buried and of rising again. And while baptism lasts 
the resurrection of Jesus cannot be denied. Destroy 
baptism and you have destroyed absolutely the only 
picture of that glorious event. Though the other 
monuments should remain to bear testimony, there 
would be no spectacular exhibition of what took place 
when he was put into the grave and when he came out 
again the conqueror of death. Nothing else can take 
its place, and its testimony can never be hushed. It 
appeals alike to the eye and the understanding. 

How quickly baptism came to its sublime place 
among the things of the kingdom, following our Lord's 
resurrection and his ascension on high ! What a day 
Pentecost was for the ordinance ! Peter in his great 
sermon had seized upon the very heart-meaning of 
the ordinance and held it up as representing in a figure 
the one single thing that could bring remission of sin — 
the blood shed on the cross. Three thousand believers 
were that day baptized as their risen Lord had been 
before them. And from that day downward along the 
line of the centuries the ordinance has held high rank 
wherever men have accepted Jesus as their Saviour 
and sought to do his will and keep his commandments. 
And every baptism is both witness and picture that he 
died and was buried and rose again. 

The New Institution. 

(4) The Christian Chnrch — each separate body of 
believers, — The Christian Church is the fourth in the 



Baptism and Other Momiments. loi 

line of these monuments. The word church is here 
used in its narrowest and yet broadest and most 
definite sense ; the individual local church which Christ 
builded and endowed with organic life and organific 
power. As when the Scriptures speak of the church 
at Jerusalem, the church of God at Corinth, the church 
at Antioch, the church of God at Ephesus, the churches 
of Asia — each one separate, distinct, individual, com- 
plete within itself, as if there were not another on 
earth. 

It has power in marvelous way to reproduce itself, 
and from the first until now has multiplied after its 
kind, spreading from country to country; it represents 
constructive Christianity, and stands also for all the 
Son of God stands for, and is sent with the lofty mis- 
sion of making his name known among the nations of 
the earth. 

Each church as Christ equipped and endued it, is 
self-propagating and self-projective. All life comes 
from antecedent life, and has the promise and potency 
of future life. Each church since the first original 
comes from antecedent churches, and has the promise 
and potency of future churches — as the acorn falling 
from the oak has the promise of other oaks. 

This church is the same, or is intended to be the 
same, in every community, and everywhere stands for 
the same things. It is thoroughly unique in doctrine, 
in membership, in its ordinances, in its lofty mission, 
with Christ as its one head and sovereign. It serves 
as a monument to commemorate what he was, what he 



102 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

taught, and what achievements he wrought among 
men. 

It was a new organization, thoroughly new from 
first to last. It was not here when Christ came, but 
he left it here when he ascended on high. It was not 
the remodeling of something that had been; not the 
putting of new wine into old bottles or of new cloth 
into old garments; it was essentially and radically 
different from Judaism, which was in no sense a church. 

Christ committed his church to his disciples and to 
the ages — 2, new institution with new membership, 
new conditions of membership, new ordinances and 
offices, a new mission and work. It commemorates the 
resurrection of Jesus; gets its inspiration and power 
from that glorious achievement, and bears testimony — 
throughout the ages has borne unbroken testimony — ^to 
the risen Christ. So much so that a devout and learned 
German rationalist (Kiem) has said: ^'It is upon an 
empty tomb the Christian Church is founded." This 
is true as a statement of fact, though not true as he 
meant it. Had not the tomb been empty on the morn- 
ing of that third day, then the church would not have 
been builded ; and had there been no risen Christ, there 
would have been no church then, and much less now. 
As an institution, visible, material, majestic, the church 
of Christ in the world today is a monument to his 
resurrection and the expression of his life and power 
and glory. Here is the inscription: 

"The church of God which he hath purchased with his 
own blood." 'To whom also he showed himself alive after 



Baptism and Other Momiments, 103 

his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them 
forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the 
kingdom of God." ''So then after the Lord had spoken 
unto them., he was received up into heaven, and sat on the 
right hand of God." 

Their Value as Positive Proof. 

3. These monumental institutions are witnesses. 
They are not exceptional in God's economy. He leaves 
monuments to commemorate his ovv^n wonderful works, 
not always but frequently. Creation itself is a monu- 
ment to his creative act; he smote the builders of 
Babel and commemorates his act in the confusion of 
tongues ; the passover feast, as a memorial of the pass- 
over night and passover event, was a mighty witness 
for God, and for that wonderful event in Hebrew and 
Egyptian history; the display of his awful power at 
Sinai has its monument forever in the Ten Command- 
m.ents ; in the Lord's Supper he set a memorial of the 
cross and of the death of his Son for the sins of the 
world; and when he raised Jesus from the dead and 
set him at the right hand of the Majesty on high, the 
glorious achievement found its monument in Chris- 
tianity and the institutions which he ordained and 
which remain to this day. And so they give evidence, 
singly and combined, that as a simple matter of history 
Jesus died and was buried and on the third day rose 
again. 

Memorials, whether on paper or stone, whether feast 
day or holiday, whether ordinance or institution, are 
witnesses whose testimony cannot be broken. Monu- 



104 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

ments are evidence of the things or events or persons 
whose memory they perpetuate. The event first, and 
afterward the memorial. Indeed the monument is the 
event cast in a mold, fixed and transmitted to succeed- 
ing ages. Monuments on great battle-fields in this 
country and throughout the world would not be there 
if the battles had not been fought. Monuments erected 
in memory of men would not be there had the men 
never lived and wrought their deeds of renown. Back 
of every monument there must be some event or some 
man which it commemorates. Back of every institu- 
tion there is first a man, and then men, and then its 
founding, and then its being perpetuated and made 
vital and powerful. As Professor Adams says : "Insti- 
tutions of learning are after all nobler monuments to 
great men and great events than are obelisks or statues 
of marble." This is a common principle everywhere 
recognized as true, and well-nigh absolute and positive 
proof which demands consent and acceptance alike for 
men and events and institutions. And the principle 
must hold good concerning these monuments as proof 
for the resurrection of Jesus. 

Evidence Cumulative and Convergent. 

Our own national history furnishes a striking 
illustration. The fourth day of July, 1776, was a 
memorable day at Philadelphia and among the nations 
of the earth. It saw the birth of a new Republic. And 



Baptism and Other Monuments. 105 

forthwith, as if setting its testimonials in monuments 
for all coming years, a new document appeared in the 
world's literature — the Declaration of Independence; 
a new day was entered in the calendar, celebrated and 
celebrating — ^the Fourth of July; a new symbol ap- 
peared among the symbols of the world — the Stars 
and Stripes ; a new nation itself appeared as an organic 
power among the kingdoms of the world — the Western 
Republic whose name and fame have covered land and 
sea after more than a hundred years of history-making. 
These four things serve as monuments to that event, 
and their testimony is cumulative and convergent to 
that day when the colonies were made one, and a new 
nation took its place among the nations of the earth. 
They give monumental testimony, and their evidence 
is demonstrative proof. And until they can be ex- 
punged from the world's calendar, and until the history 
of more than a hundred years in the life of the Republic 
can be undone and blotted out, it would be folly and 
madness to deny the fact of the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence. 

So with the monuments that testify for the resur- 
rection of Jesus, as an event further back in the world's 
calendar and more ancient in the world's history. 
These four monuments — corresponding somewhat to 
those certifying the Republic's birth — the New Testa- 
ment, the new Sabbath, the new Ordinance, the new 
Organization, demand a new event of mighty power 
in the world's life. Their testimony sweeps back 
through the years and through the centuries, all the 



io6 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

while symbolizing and converging, and centers at the 
one glorious achievement. 

They converge with accumulated power to one per- 
son, to one event, to one single point in the world's 
history ; they converge to Christ, the worker of mighty 
works, the teacher of wonderful words, who con- 
fessedly died on the cross and was buried in a tomb 
made doubly sure against all intrusion; they converge 
to the sepulcher confessedly found empty, his body hav- 
ing disappeared ; they converge to the risen Christ, evi- 
dencing and certifying himself by his reappearance 
among his disciples, alive in his former body, bearing 
marks of the cross, but marks also of new power and 
of a new life more glorious even for him. This evi- 
dence, cumulative and convergent and centered, de- 
mands the event for which these monuments stand. 
And without the resurrection of Jesus these monu- 
ments would never have been, could not have been. 

A History of Their Own. 

4. Their own history augments immeasurably the 
power of their evidence. These institutions which are 
here emphasized as monuments to a great event have 
a history of their own. Not only the event for which 
they stand, but they themselves must be accounted for 
in the settlement of the question. They have each of 
them, and inseparably, a history of nearly two thou- 
sand years. Where did they come from? And how 
came they with such charm and power? Manifestly, 



Baptism and Other Monuments 107 

they are here, and are traceable to that memorable 
morning, and to the event which made the day memora- 
ble forever; they are here after ceaseless and terrible 
conflict through the centuries — assailed, often marred, 
often broken and corrupted; but still here after many 
seeming failures, but by a succession of glorious tri- 
umphs; they are here accepted and accredited in their 
evidence after the severest testing by the most power- 
ful appliances known to man ; they are here as a large 
part of the world's life today, in great and growing 
power, much the same in form and spirit and purpose 
as when our Lord first ordained them and sent them 
on their mission to testify for him. 

Christianity and Christendom are words fixed in the 
world's Hterature. They stand for the kingdom of 
Christ. They represent ideas and facts and doctrines 
and lives which are interwoven in the history of all 
the mightiest nations of the earth. They are the woof 
shot through and through the warp of history. There 
is no history with Christianity left out. It has con- 
quered its right to be. Historic Christianity demands 
the historic Christ; the historic Christ demands the 
risen Christ. Stay, O reader, in your denial of his 
resurrection, until these institutions which he has set 
as monuments to himself and to his mighty deeds, 
shall be obliterated from the face of the earth — until 
history be rewritten and rewrought! These glorious 
achievements could not be, had he been holden of death 
and seen corruption. They are unaccountable and im- 
possible except through him who was dead and is alive 



io8 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

again; who, ''the mightiest among the holy and the 
holiest among the mighty, Hfted with his pierced 
hands empires off their hinges, turned the streani of 
centuries out of its channel, and still governs the ages." 
Then is Christ risen from the dead — this is the testi- 
mony of the monuments themselves, and also of their 
own wonderful history through the centuries and 
throughout the world wherever men have gone with 
the Gospel of the Son of God. And so the resurrection 
of Jesus as a simple fact takes rank with other facts. 
Its marvelous significance stands. It is the hope and 
joy of the world. And here stand our monuments too 
— the New Testament, the Christian Sabbath as the 
Lord's Day, the ordinance of baptism wherein we are 
buried and risen with him, and the church of God, 
whose King is Christ the Lord. They are renowned 
in their own history, but even more renowned and 
made sublime, each in itself, because testifying and 
certifying the empty sepulcher and the risen Christ as 
the crowning glory of human history. 

The Far-off Brought Near. 

5. Monuments appeal to faith and awaken the power 
to realize. These institutions give us a far-off vision 
of that wondrous event. Or, rather, our faith serving 
as a kind of telescope and trained along the line of 
these institutions in the march of history, gives a view 
near at hand. It makes the resurrection the most 
present and powerful factor in the lives of men — their 



Baptism and Other Momtnients. 109 

joy and crown of rejoicing even in this twentieth 
century of the Christian Era. 

Standing by the ancient Pyramids of Egypt, one 
easily puts himself back four thousand years when they 
were built and must have had builders. Standing by 
the monumental lion on the field of Waterloo, one easily 
puts himself into that terrible conflict of bloodshed and 
carnage. Walking now over the battle-fields of Shiloh 
and Chickamauga and Gettysburg, among the many 
monuments which mark historic places, one easily after 
more than forty years have passed feels the thrill of 
the gigantic conflict where blood ran like water, where 
valor and courage, the most illustrious in all the world, 
did honor to the American soldier. So also by these 
institutions of Christ, we may put ourselves at once 
into the very midst of the stirring scenes of that new 
morning — or rather, may bring them here today as 
near and living realities; present and full of joy. The 
New Testament, as the story of our Lord's life, glows 
with a new meaning; the Lord's Day takes on new 
significance and awakens a new song; baptism as the 
ordinance of our Lord's own appointment becomes 
luminous in the glory of the event which it commemo- 
rates and is glorified forever; the church takes on en- 
larged proportions, new importance and august majesty 
in its character and lofty mission. 

By these monumental institutions and a living faith 
the distance is all gone and the far-off is brought near, 
brought back to this very hour. We see afresh the 
wonders of that new day and walk with our Lord in 



no Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

the garden as he meets and greets his disciples in their 
gladness — somewhat, we may suppose, as one experi- 
ences in the study of the stars through the telescope 
from one of the great observatories. There the student 
of the heavens with the powerful instrument lives in 
far-away distances, walks amid wonders, and beholds 
splendors which dazzle and thrill. As he watches night 
after night, there comes a new star into the field of his 
vision, coming up from the eternal depths. He watches 
its movements, marks its magnitude and brilliance and 
phenomena, then gladdens the world in telling what 
he has seen. 

"So felt I, as some watcher of the skies 
When a new planet swims into his ken." 

In some such way, as a meager illustration, the de- 
vout student of the far-off facts in history has his tele- 
scope — his faith looking through these institutions; 
swings it around as they do the great instruments in 
the lofty observatory; gets it well adjusted and trained 
on the garden of Joseph of Arimathea, until it covers 
as the field of vision that momentous period in the 
world's history. As you look there are changing and 
shifting scenes ; first, a solid rock ; then men as hewers 
of stone come on the scene, and soon a tomb appears 
newly hewn in the rock and finished, but as yet unused ; 
then later others come, sad of countenance and de- 
jected, bearing a body well prepared for burial and 
given a place in the new tomb, while a great stone is 
rolled to the mouth of the sepulcher — they leave and 
with the coming of yet others you see the stone sealed 



Baptism and Other Monninents. iii 

with the Roman seal, and a Roman guard set to keep 
watch; as you look further you discern the incoming 
of a light from the further side — the quaking of the 
earth— the coming down of the angels — the rolling 
away of the great stone — the soldiers falling down as 
dead men — the coming forth of the risen Christ — the 
empty sepulcher left behind — the hurried coming of 
Peter and John — our Lord's meeting with Mary as 
she walks in the garden, and with the other women 
as they bear the glad news to the disciples — ^the whole 
field of vision full of stirring and startling movement, 
— then you turn and tell the world that something 
wonderful has happened — ^that a new event has come 
in the onward sweep of history, and that Jesus of 
Nazareth is ahve again. And all the earth is filled 
with the glad news which has come down to us from 
century to century. 

Oh, how wonderful and transcendent these institu- 
tions, which our Lord has ordained and crowned with 
the glory of his resurrection morning ! Hovv/" dear and 
sacred they are to those who love him and worship 
him as their Lord and their God! They not only help 
us in the retrospect as the heart in its devotion and 
faith sweeps away into the past; but they are full of 
forecast for the coming years, and their testimony of 
what has been is suddenly changed into a song of 
what shall be. In every voice they utter, they tell of 
further conflict indeed, but also of conquest, consum- 
mation, and coronation. They quicken our faith ; they 
awaken the song of victory even while the battle is on 



112 Moral Dignity of Baptism, 

and at its fiercest. There is everywhere the note of 
triumph. 

The Lord's Day looks to the Sabbath that has no 
end in the sweet fields of Eden where the tree of Hfe 
is blooming ; the Scriptures are full of promise, lifting 
the veil and revealing ineffable glories yet to come; 
baptism is bold out of measure, foretelling the resur- 
rection of the dead, the undoing of the work of death, 
and the reversal in a moment of all preceding history ; 
the church is a prediction of her Lord's coming ; multi- 
plied and multiplying in every country, and in suc- 
cessive centuries until ten thousand churches unite in 
ten thousand predictions of the one church that is to 
be — a glorious church without spot or wrinkle or any 
such thing, holy and without blemish, the general 
assembly indeed, and in fullness the church of the first- 
born whose name is written in heaven. There is every- 
where the song of conquest — complete triumph, when 
the risen Christ shall be crowned King of kings and 
Lord of lords. "O God, let the Sun of fighteousness 
speedily come forth, and leaping to the zenith stand 
still a thousand years!" 



CHAPTER VII. 

BAPTISM AND THE TRINITY. 

"And Jesus came and spake to them, saying, All power 
is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 

"Go ye therefore, and make disciples of all nations, bap- 
tizing them into the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all 
things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am 
with you always, even unto the end of the world." (Matt. 
28: 18-20.) 

IN these Imperial v^ords of command, emphasized 
by the occasion, our Lord put baptism in august 
relation to the Trinity, and crowned the new ordi- 
nance with honor and glory. They at once command 
baptism and furnish the baptismal formula for his 
disciples throughout all ages. The obligation to bap- 
tize is in his authority to command, while the wonder- 
ful words concerning the Trinity have in themselves 
their own sublime meaning, at once profound and far- 
reaching significance. The observance and keeping 
of the rite are entrusted to his disciples in their mis- 
sion to the world. And the blessing of his presence is 
promised for its administration through the years and 
the centuries — always, even unto the end, when he 
shall come again in power and great glory. 

Casual reading of the New Testament readily dis- 
covers the exalted position which baptism has in its 
system, while a deeper view only serves to deepen 

8 (113) 



114 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

the first impression, and to show how beautifully the 
ordinance maintains itself, even among things glorious 
in themselves and of commanding significance. It 
stands closely related to many of the fundamental doc- 
trines of grace. Baptism, though an outward, physical 
act, yet stands as sentinel for the truth as it is in Jesus. 

In this ordinance facts and doctrines and experiences 
of the most tremendous moment find expression and 
illustration and emphasis. It borrows from their re- 
nown and shines in their brilliancy. Here you find 
urgent reason for the lofty honor put upon baptism — 
an act insignificant in itself, yet charged with wonder- 
ful meaning, sharing in the moral dignity which be- 
longs to great truths, and sublime in their moral 
grandeur. 

There is pressing need that baptism be given its 
rightful position, and be held steadfastly in its proper 
relation. Its very greatness has led some astray, and 
they have ascribed to baptism a mystical power to 
cleanse, or a purchasing power to pardon, or a procur- 
ing efficacy to save. We can hardly wonder at this, 
so exalted is the ordinance and such wondrous things 
are said about it in the word of God. One is hardly 
surprised that the credulous and superstitious heathen 
in far-away times and countries should worship the 
sun or the ocean or the mountains. His mind is en- 
tranced and awed by the majesty of these monarchs in 
the kingdom of nature. In some such way baptism 
from the earliest centuries has been wrenched from the 
place Christ gave it. Because of its kingly character 



Baptism and the Trinity, 115 

and lofty position in the system It was thought to be 
and to do more than was ever intended for it. 

But this is not strange; rather, the wonder is how 
any one with the New Testament open before his eyes 
can treat baptism with indifference, or count it of no 
importance, or in anywise speak Hghtly of it, or ad- 
mitting its force still go on disregarding its require- 
ment of personal recognition and obedience. It is as 
if one should walk the streets of the Imperial City and 
never see St. Peter's, or should look on Niagara with 
no responsive sensation to its majestic sight and thun- 
derous roar, or walk out under the stars and feel no 
greatness of soul answering to their quiet but sublime 
speech. 

The ordinance of baptism holds within itself things 
which rightly understood should stir the heart to its 
greatest depths. True, one must not make too much of 
baptism — of course not ; but in this day there is danger 
lest we make too little of it. We cannot exaggerate 
the importance of its having the right emphasis, but 
this comes, and comes with power, only by holding 
the ordinance in its proper place and relation. To do 
this requires that baptism shall be baptism — the im- 
mersion in water of a penitent believer. Nothing else 
will suffice. Whatever mars baptism in form or sub- 
ject or design or spirit, infringes upon its kingly place 
and does violence to the truth of God. 

Christ set baptism in his house as commanded by 
him and to be obeyed by his followers, so that our 
treatment of the ordinance easily and of necessity be- 



ii6 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

comes our treatment of him; and he has so set it 
among the doctrines that our view of baptism becomes 
almost a sure index to our view of the great doctrines ; 
our creed concerning baptism will almost surely indi- 
cate our creed throughout the system. 



Its Special Emphasis of the Trinity. 

I. Baptism specifies and gives emphasis to the great 
doctrine. The Trinity — Tri-unity, one in three and 
three in one — may be considered either as a fact con- 
cerning the Divine Being or as a doctrine in the Chris- 
tian system. Whether fact or doctrine, it is of the 
most august character, and both ideas are clearly em- 
phasized in the baptismal formula — "baptizing them 
into the name of the Father and of the Son and of the 
Holy Spirit.'^ 

The expression, into the name^ is very strong and 
of unique significance. It does not convey or contain 
authority for baptism. That authority, as already 
stated, is in the fact of Christ's commanding to baptize. 
But these words, into the name, go further. They 
show recognition of Christ's authority in our obedience 
to his command; but more, they declare with special 
and significant force our relation to the Trinity. They 
signalize and emphasize the Trinity, and give distinc- 
tion and even sublime character to our act in baptizing 
and being baptized. 

The Greek preposition eis (eis to onoma, into the 
name) may be rendered in^ into, or tinto, all meaning 



Baptism and the Trinity. 117 

the same thing, but each needing further exegetical 
definition and explanation. Dr. John A. Broadus and 
Dr. James P. Boyce gave earnest preference for unto, 
as meaning with respect to — e. g., "baptism unto (m, 
in respect to) repentance;" ''be baptized every one of 
you upon the name of Jesus Christ for {eis, in respect 
to, on account of) the remission of sins;'^ "baptizing 
them in {eis, in respect to) the name," etc. 

While accepting this exegesis, I have followed an- 
other translation, which is also well authorized, and 
have used into throughout this treatise as the strongest 
and more adequate rendering for this particular pas- 
sage. Dr. Robinson, in his Greek Lexicon, says : 

"To be baptized into a thing — i. e., into the belief, pro- 
fession, observance of any thing. To be baptized into 
a person — /. e., into a profession of faith in any one, and 
sincere obedience to him. So into the name of any one, in 
the same sense. To baptize into the obligations incumbent 
on a disciple of any one." 

It seems to me that in as a translation lacks strength, 
and unto lacks definiteness. If into may mislead or 
be too easily misconstrued, as Dr. Broadus says, the 
reason is that it has force and point, being stronger 
and more expressive. But while either rendering of 
the preposition needs doctrinal explanation, this 
original eis carries a profound and tremendous mean- 
ing for the believer as representing in the act of bap- 
tism his relation to the several persons in the Godhead, 
and showing also the exalted character of the ordi- 
nance itself because of its high place and noble service 
in the system of Christian doctrine. 



Ii8 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

Christ himself has given baptism this sublime rela- 
tion to the Trinity in his very appointment of the ordi- 
nance. Indeed, his command to baptize includes also 
the holding of it in this relation. There is nothing that 
could make the ordinance more exalted or more glori- 
ous. Surely none would dare give baptism such a 
place, had not our Lord led the way and commanded 
us to follow, doing as he had done. And now that he 
has placed it there, let none dare violate its rightful 
position. 

In the simple order of the words, and in the very 
structure of the sentence, the baptismal formula asserts, 
with all clearness and force. Unity of Being and Trin- 
ity of Persons — both oneness and separateness. In the 
one "name" you see the one God, the Jehovah of all 
ages and of all peoples; in the separate mention of 
Father and of Son and of Holy Spirit, you have the 
three separate Persons of the eternal Godhead. 

The Doctrine in the Ordinance. 

This ineffable truth, too profound for us to Gom- 
prehend, and yet submitted to our faith, found glorious 
illustration when our Saviour was baptized — immersed 
by John in the Jordan. The Son was there to be bap- 
tized ; the Holy Spirit was there in dove-like shape ; and 
the Father was there, giving his approval — his ap- 
proval of the Son and of the Son's immersion in the 
Jordan. This brings together the ordinary and extra- 



Baptism and the Trinity. 119 

ordinary — and makes baptism, an act so simple in itself, ' 
glorious in the majesty of this great truth. 

Moreover, baptism has guardianship over this doc- 
trine, holds it steadfastly before the world and pro- 
claims it among men. It cannot be administered ex- 
cept in the use of these solemn and august words ; and 
so far as I know or dare go, there can be no other use 
of these words in this form, "into the name of the 
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit'' — except 
in connection with baptism. Their depth of meaning 
will probably not be known in this Ufe; but there is 
danger lest we underrate their wonderful significance. 

They declare the Fatherhood of God, the Lordship 
of the Son, the Personality of the Holy Spirit, and the 
equality of all three throughout. This is a tremendous 
truth, but is the truth which is boldly set forth in the 
ordinance of baptism. And wherever baptism takes 
place this wonderful doctrine, rather this marvelous 
grouping together of doctrines, finds repetition and 
emphasis. Not only is this true for today, but through 
all the centuries since Christ first set these words in 
this arrangement for his people, whenever baptism was 
administered the world heard afresh the sounding out 
of this doctrine as if coming from the very heavens as 
God's message to men, and making familiar by usage 
one of the most glorious revelations of sublime truth. 

Moreover, in the act of baptism there is with all 
parties concerned a declaration and profession of faith. 
This faith includes each of the three Persons of the 
Godhead, and crowns them each as Sovereign — collec- 



120 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

lively and individually ruling in our lives. Here we 
declare not only our faith, but also our allegiance and 
loyalty and service to the glorious Three in one. Our 
baptism becomes at once our creed and pledge for 
holy living, and for walking in all the ordinances of 
the Lord's house. It is impossible indeed for any 
other single act to say more than is said here. The 
very power and beauty of the ordinance lies in its 
declarative character. It declares in plainest way 
what we believe, what we have experienced, what we 
purpose, and to whom we subscribe our allegiance and 
life. 

There is no room here for the Unitarian or for the 
Unitarian faith. The creed of every rightful baptism 
is : I believe in God the Father, I believe in God the 
Son, I believe in God the Holy Spirit. Such is the 
majesty and moral greatness of baptism. It has leach- 
ing power, and its teaching concerns these lofty themes 
of the Gospel. 

Baptism's meaning and character are always the 
same, whether administered in a beautiful stream like 
the Jordan, or some pool in a quiet country place, or in 
the baptistery of the stately house of worship, or in 
some more humble place of meeting and worship — 
so only it he baptism, the immersion of believers, "bap- 
tizing them into the name of the Father and of the 
Son and of the Holy Spirit." 

Here heaven and earth join in the one solemn scene. 
Baptism is always an act of worship, and the very 
place of its administration partakes of the glory of 



Baptism and the Trinity. 121 

worship. Here we have the burning bush; here we 
stand on holy ground with sandals removed from our 
feet ; here we look and wonder ; we listen and hear the 
wondrous voice of God. This is the place, not for 
controversy either with man or with God, but for 
simple observance of God's law in profound reverence 
for the things which he has commanded. This is our 
doxology set in emblem — the doxology of all ages and 
countries, the doxology awakened and sung in every 
administration of baptism : 

Praise God, from whom all blessings flow; 
Praise him, all creatures here below; 
Praise him above, ye heavenly host, 
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. 

This lofty strain of praise well becomes the sublime 
act, in which we worship God, and in which he has 
shown such marvelous condescension, and revealed so 
much of his grace. The glory of the Trinity is upon 
the scene, and should subdue us into reverence and 
awe, and should awaken the glad song of grateful 
praise. 

Baptism and the Lord Jesus. 

2. The voice of baptism is a voice for the Godhead 
of Jesus. Baptism and the Lord Jesus — ^these words 
are put together with intent, as comporting with all 
that is written concerning the ordinance, and empha- 
sizing its importance and its relation to the doctrine of 
redemption. Christ, the second Person in the Trinity, 
by his own baptism in the Jordan set us an example 
of the pattern and spirit and purpose of baptism, and 



122 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

gave It the strongest possible endorsement of his own 
personal action, as if putting upon it his signature 
written by his own hand. And later when perpetuating 
baptism, and commanding its observance for all time, 
he put upon it and into it all the authority which had 
been given to him whether in heaven or in earth. So 
that baptism crowns Jesus of Nazareth as King of 
kings and Lord of lords, and at the same time sets out 
in powerful fashion his redemptive work and what he 
brings to the believer in the redemption purchased by 
his own blood. 

The Trinity — separateness of the three Persons in 
the Godhead and their co-operation in human redemp- 
tion — is clearly recognized and emphasized in the 
Scriptures. These Divine Persons operate and co- 
operate individually and conjointly and concurrently 
to save lost men. This is God's plan of redemption, 
and almost, if not altogether, its crowning glory, and 
the cause of its marvelous efficiency and efficacy. As 
doctrine this deserves to hold a most exalted place in 
our thinking and in all our conduct. This joint work 
of the Trinity is stated in the word of God as follows : 

"God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten 
Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, 
but have everlasting life;" gave him to die 'The just for 
the unjust/' as "without the shedding of blood there is no 
remission of sin." 
^ And Christ as "the Lamb of God that taketh away the 
sin of the v/orld," "Hath redeemed us from the curse of 
the law, being made a curse for us ;" And by his own pre- 
cious blood "has obtained eternal redemption for us, hav- 
ing through, the eternal Spirit offered himself without 
spot to God." 



Baptism and the Trinity, 123 

The story of redemption is the story of what God 
has done through the work of Christ and through the 
effective working of the Holy Spirit to save a lost and 
ruined world, ''that he might be just and the justiiier 
of him that believeth in Jesus/' and "that in the ages 
to come he might show the exceeding riches of his 
grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus/' 



His Redemptive Work. 

Now mark you, as holding to the simple purpose of 
this discussion, Christ has set baptism in this great 
system with a distinct place and purpose, as relates 
both to the doctrine of the Trinity and to the doctrine 
of his own redemptive work. It emphasizes at once 
Christ's place in the Godhead, and also his specific 
office in the redemptive scheme. His death on the 
cross, his burial in the tomb, his resurrection from the 
dead — ^these three acts in the way of tragedy and tri- 
umph — ^constitute the very heart and are the very 
essence of his work of redemption. This is every- 
where manifest throughout the word of God. He loved 
us and gave himself for us; he died for us and rose 
again for us. We are justified by his blood and saved 
from wrath through him. His blood is the propitia- 
tion of our sins and cleanseth us from all sin; the cry 
and hope of the soul is that his blood may 

Be of sin the double cure, 

Save from wrath and make me pure. 



124 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

In his own august baptism in the Jordan, as in the 
baptism of every beUever, there is a plain yet marvel- 
ous setting forth of our Lord's death and of his burial 
and of his resurrection — so plain that none need fail 
to see it, so astounding that all may well wonder. 
With him at the Jordan it was a foretelling, a setting 
out beforehand what should surely come, and after- 
wards did come, when he died on the cross and was 
buried and rose again in the execution of the wonder- 
ful plan. His baptism was at. once both cross and 
sepulcher — the tragedy of the one, the triumph of the 
other. Our baptism is intended to serve the same lofty 
double purpose, to show his burial and resurrection, 
and is a declaration moreover of our union with him 
by faith, in his dying and rising again and in our 
sharing in all that these mighty events accomplished 
in the plan of redemption. 

Baptism does nothing for us, yet declares in a won- 
derful way what has been done for us — already done 
beforehand, both as to what Christ wrought when he 
died on the cross, and what God wrought when he 
raised him from the dead, and what was wrought in 
us by the Holy Spirit when we believed on him. 

"So many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were 
baptized into his death. Therefore we are buried with 
him by baptism into death ; that like as Christ was raised 
up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we 
also.'*' (Rom. 6: 3, 4.) 

"The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now 
save us (not the putting away the filth of the flesh, but the 
answer of a good conscience toward God) by the resur- 
rection of Jesus Christ/' (i Pet. 3: 21.) 



Baptism and the Trinity, 125 

"And now why tarriest thou? Arise, and be baptized, 
and wash away thy sins, calling on the name of the Lord." 
(Acts 22: 16.) 

*'Ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. 
For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have . 
put on Christ." (Gal. 3 : 25, 26.) 

"Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen 
with him through the faith of the operation of God, who 
has raised him from the dead." (Col. 2: 12.) 

These are remarkable utterances, and show the -figU' 
rative power of baptism in setting out in figure and in 
emblem what Christ has done for us. It declares our 
relation to him by faith, and shows the effect of his 
work in us. We have here the figures of death — burial 
— resurrection — washing or cleansing — and the putting 
on, as of a uniform. These are all figures, not a con- 
fusion of figures, but showing the many-sidedness of 
baptism in its declaration of the different phases and 
effects of Christ's redemptive work. To understand 
baptism in its relation to the Lord Jesus, and in rela- 
tion to his shedding of blood for the world's redemp- 
tion, is of profound importance and greatly honors and 
exalts the ordinance. 



Symbol of the Real Fountain. 

Baptism cannot in any sense take away sin, cannot 
in any sense save or help to salvation. Nothing but 
the atoning work of Christ can do this ; and we come 
into its benefits by simple faith in him, a faith which 
accepts him as Saviour and leads to obeying him as 
our Lord. It is the saved and pardoned man who 



126 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

comes to baptism, and in his baptism shows by emblem 
and pictorial representation the one source of his sal- 
vation. 

Sin is of the heart, of the deepest inner nature of 
man. No physical act can reach it. Nothing but the 
blood can take it away. It is folly and ruin to look 
for help in any other, much less for saving efficacy. 
A porter washing a large window from the outside 
used much effort to remove one ugly spot ; but it could 
not be effaced, and was finally discovered to be on the 
inside. So it is with sin. It is like the stain on Mac- 
beth's hand ; all the waters of all the seas cannot make 
it clean or take away its stain. The sin-stricken soul 
is driven to Christ for redemption, for cleansing, for 
life and salvation — ^to Christ in his death and burial 
and resurrection — to Christ who died for our sins and 
rose again for our justification, and who is gone into 
heaven, and is on the right hand of God; who ever 
liveth to make intercession for us ; angels and authori- 
ties and powers being made subject to him. 

All that is wonderful ; but here is the further wonder, 
that while baptism cannot save, it yet serves as a mar- 
velous picture of what does save. It shows in a picture 
the death of the Lord Jesus, his burial and resurrec- 
tion, and therein we find redemption. It cannot cleanse 
and yet in a marvelous way shows in emblem "the 
fountain opened in the house of David for sin and un- 
cleanness." Baptism stands, not as procuring but 
showing, not as giving but telling, not as working a 
change within us but disclosing and declaring a change 



Baptism and the Trinity. 127 

already wrought. It is only a picture, but a glorious 
picture of more glorious facts and realjties. Count it 
a picture and emblem, and then one can hardly do it 
too much honor. Back of this ordinance, and entirely 
apart from it, and not to be confounded with it. 

There is a fountain filled with blood 

Drawn from Immanuers veins^ 
And sinners plunged beneath that floods 

Lose all their guilty stains. 

Thou dying Lamb, thy precious blood 

Shall never lose its power, 
Till all the ransomed church of God 

Be saved to sin no more. 

E'er since by faith I saw the stream 

Thy flowing wounds supply, 
Redeeming love has been my theme, 

And shall be till I die. 

When this poor, lisping, stamm'ring tongue 

Lies^ silent in the grave, 
Then in a nobler, sweeter song 

I'll sing thy power to save. 

To substitute baptism for that fountain in any way 
is monstrous, and disjoints the whole system, and is 
for the soul's undoing. But as a picture of that foun- 
tain baptism is glorious to look upon. There is where 
Christ put baptism; that is the service for which he 
intended it; and there we should hold it as teaching 
the great doctrine concerning himself and his redemp- 
tive work. 

Baptism and the Holy Spirit. 

3. The ordinance holds symbolic relation to the 
specific work of the Holy Spirit. This does not refer 



128 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

to what in modern times is usually called "the baptism 
of the Spirit," but which John and the Saviour himself 
called being "baptized in the Holy Spirit/' That won- 
derful event, whatever its meaning and whether it had 
any repetition upon its first glorious consummation, 
does not come within the scope of the present discus- 
sion. And yet it adds meaning and dignity and honor 
to the ordinance of baptism, that both John and Jesus 
use it for symbolizing "baptism in the Spirit'' — making 
it foretell what with them was future, but what after- 
wards found fulfillment on the day of Pentecost. On 
that great day in the history of Christianity the Holy 
Spirit came from heaven and filled all the house where 
the disciples were sitting, and they were baptized in 
him, enveloped, overwhelmed, immersed in his influ- 
ence and power, even as Jesus and others had been 
immersed in the Jordan. 

Dr. Schaff (Presbyterian) translates the Commentary 
of iLange (Lutheran) on Matt. 3: 11, as follows: *'I bap- 
tize you in water, immersing you in the element of water. 
... He will entirely immerse you in the Holy Spirit." 
On the same text Dr. Plumptre (Episcopalian) writes: 
"As heard and understood at the time, the baptism with 
the Holy Ghost would imply that the souls thus baptized 
would be plunged, as it were, in that creative and inform- 
ing Spirit." And writing on Acts i : 5, Dr. Plumptre also 
says : "Now they were told that their spirits were to be as 
fully baptized — that is, plunged — into the power of the 
Divine Spirit as their bodies had been plunged in the 
waters of the Jordan." 

But here is an additional doctrine not less important, 
or less glorious. The Holy Spirit, as the Third Person 
in the adorable Trinity, has his specific office in the 



Baptism and the Trinity, 129 

redemptive scheme, and his work like the work of the 
Son finds its symbol, in part at least, in the ordinance 
of baptism. He has his fixed place in the baptismal 
formula, and is there recognized and honored and wor- 
shiped in its every administration. It is wonderful 
that our Saviour should have brought baptism into 
such sublime relation, and made the simple ordinance 
do service that befits the angels of God ; and yet no one 
would dare to abridge the baptismal formula. It must 
be "baptizing into the name of the Father, and of the 
Son, and of the Holy Spirif — declaring for his Per- 
sonality and Sovereignty, and for our allegiance to him 
in Hfe and service. 

His office in redemption is in part to apply the atone- 
ment of Christ and to make it effective in human 
hearts. It is his to quicken and miake alive, to con- 
vict of sin and to cleanse in the blood of the Lamb from 
all uncleanness, and to beget within us ''a lively hope 
by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead." 

So there is ''the unity of the Spirit; the one body, 
and one Spirit, even as we are called in one hope of 
our calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one 
God and Father of all." Inseparable in Being, doing 
work separate in operation, and yet one in glorious 
and final achievement. It is the office and work of the 
Holy Spirit to give the new heart, to bring about the 
new birth, to make new creatures in Christ Jesus, to 
translate from the kingdom of Satan into the kingdom 
of God's dear Son, to bring us from death into life, 
to work a spiritual resurrection from a spiritual death, 
9 



130 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

that we may live in Christ to the glory of God the 
Father. All this wonderful output of divine grace and 
of divine power finds its outward manifestation in the 
ordinance of baptism — "the one baptism" standing for 
all three and bearing testimony for the work that each 
has done. To quote a learned Episcopalian scholar, Dr. 
Sanday, baptism equals three things — viz.: ^Immer- 
sion = death ; submersion = burial ( ratification of 
death) ; emergence = resurrection." 

"God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love where- 
with he loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses 
and in sin, hath quickened us together with Christ, and 
hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in 
heavenly places in Christ Jesus." (Eoh. 2: 4-6.) 

And just as Christ's resurrection from the grave, so 
also our being raised up with him by the Holy Spirit 
finds its symbol in our baptism wherein we are buried 
with Christ, and wherein also we are risen with him by 
faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him 
from the dead and us with him. 



Baptism and Church Membership. 

4. Baptism in its very nature stands for the doctrine 
of a spiritual membership in the churches of Christ. 
Its voice beyond all controversy is, that only converted 
and saved people can make the character of a church, 
and fulfill its high and lofty purpose and mission in 
the world. This is true whether baptism be "the door 
into the church" or simply an ordinance within. In 



Baptism and the Trinity . 13 1 

either case only the baptized can be members, and only 
those can be baptized who have been raised up from 
spiritual death and made alive in Christ. Baptism of 
any and all others is without meaning, is sacrilege, and 
does violence to the whole round of doctrines as they 
stand related to each other and as Christ has given 
them to us. Concerning members in a church of Jesus 
Christ may be written the wonderful words — ''Bap- 
tized into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and 
of the Holy Spirit.'' 

A converted membership in our churches is mani- 
festly the doctrine of the New Testament, and is clearly 
promised and required and provided for in God's plan 
of grace. It is a glorious doctrine greatly exalting a 
church as to its character and function and mission. 
It finds expression and emphasis and even require- 
ment in baptism as an ordinance of the Lord's house. 

A church of Christ is for the saved. Men come 
through Christ to the church, and not through the 
church to Christ. Only those who are first in Christ 
can be in the church — and of it. Baptism demands 
this end, guards this great doctrine, and insists upon 
its practice. 

Lower the standard of baptism as to pov/er or mean- 
ing or spirit, and you lower the standard of church 
membership. The preservation of one is the preserva- 
tion of the other ; the glory of one is the glory of the 
other. Knowing and holding baptism in its larger 
and more exalted meaning will lead into the larger 
view of the character and life and work of a church of 



132 Moral Dignity of Baptism, 

Christ. This is the place where we need high think- 
ing and humble living to the glory of God the Father, 
the Son and the Holy Spirit. 



Significant but Without Efficacy. 

In our study of the ordinance of baptism there is 
need to distinguish betvv^een efficacy and significance. 
Baptism is absolutely without efficacy, is possessed of 
no mystical power whatever. It does not save or help 
to save; it does not even ''mark a definite point where 
salvation begins or where we can know we are saved." 
It has no office or value in this way, and can do nothing 
whatever for the unsaved — except perchance as they 
may be impressed in witnessing the baptism of others. 

And yet, baptism is full of meaning, and of marvel- 
ous significance when administered as Christ com- 
manded. By figure and emblem it holds in itself many 
of the greatest facts and doctrines in the whole system. 
It is full of their meaning and beautiful in their sig- 
nificance. It tells of wonderful things in its form and 
spirit and purpose. It brings us face to face with Je- 
hovah in solemn Vv^orship and service — declaring the 
grace of God and showing his workmanship more glori- 
ous than the stars. 

Oh ! how wonderful God is, in his revelation of him- 
self to men ! As seen in Isaiah's vision he is high and 
lifted up ; as v/orshiped by Moses at the Red Sea he is 
glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders. 
His very name is Holy — the Holy One of Israel. He 



Baptism and the Trinity. 133 

dwells in the high and lofty place, but *Vith him also 
that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the 
spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the 
contrite one." 

And in his marvelous condescension he gives his 
Son, and gives his Spirit, and works his work of grace 
in the heart, in bringing men to himself and leading 
them out into the sunlight of his love. And they in 
joyous testimony to his grace and saving power, and 
in declaring their faith, their allegiance, and their serv- 
ice to him, are "baptized into the name of the Father, 
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit," glorifying 
God and giving everlasting praises to him. And bap- 
tism is glorified in declaring the glory of God. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE NEW BIRTH AND THEN BAPTISM. 

THE new birth comes before baptism, and is es- 
sential to baptism. The purpose of this chap- 
ter is to separate them, and yet emphasize their 
importance each in its own sphere and office. They 
certainly are not of equal importance, and have no 
connection whatever, especially not as making baptism 
causative of the new birth, or making the new birth 
dependent in any sense upon baptism. 

To give baptism any other position frustrates the 
whole plan as set out in the New Testament, perverts 
the ordinance and mars its simplicity and nobleness, 
and utterly misses the doctrine of the new birth as 
well as its significance as a work of grace wrought in 
the human heart. 

Making a Statement of Doctrine. 

I. The. doctrine of the new birth has its statement in 
the following passages of Scripture : 

"As many as received him, to them gave he power to 
become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his 
name, which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of 
the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.*' (John i : 
12, 13.) 

(134) 



The New Birth and Then Baptism. 135 

"Verily, verily, I say unto thee. Except a man be born 
again he cannot see the kingdom of God. . . . Except 
a man be born of water and of the Spirit he cannot enter 
into the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh 
is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. 
Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again. 
The wind blcweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the 
sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh and 
whither it goeth; so is every one that is born of the 
Spirit." Qohn 3: 3, 5-8.) 

"In Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gos- 
pel." (I Cor. 4: 15.) 

"Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, 
that we should be a kind of first fruits of his creatures." 
(James i : 18.) 

"Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of in- 
corruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth 
forever." (i Pet. i: 23.) 

These several passages set out the necessity and 
origin and the different phases of the new birth, while 
the Baptist view of this doctrine, as based upon these 
and other utterances from the word of God, may be 
stated in the following article of denominational faith : 

"We believe that, in order to be saved, sinners must be 
regenerated, or born again; that regeneration consists in 
giving a holy disposition to the mind; that it is effected 
in. a manner above our comprehension by the power of 
the Holy Spirit, in connection with divine truth, so as to 
secure our voluntary obedience to the gospel ; that its 
proper evidence appears in the holy fruit of repentance 
and faith and newness of life." 

These passages of Scripture, as well as the article 
of denominational faith, do not mention or even make 
reference to baptism,"^ and yet furnish a full statement 

* The words "born of water" have been the subject of much dis- 
cussion. The weight of authority and argument lead me to the conclu- 
sion that the Saviour did not refer to baptism. And if he did, this 
passage should be classed with those that indicate the symbolic import of 
the ordinance. 



136 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

concerning the new birth! The meaning of this is 
plain, and should keep them ever apart in both creed 
and practice. Baptism is a physical act, while the 
new birth is spiritual; the one is performed by man 
and concerns the body, the other is of the heart and 
is wrought by the Holy Spirit of God. And yet bap- 
tism holds commanding significance even here, if only 
it be viewed in its own place and lofty purpose. 

The words "new birth" mean the same as the word 
"regeneration," which simply means a second birth; 
the first in somewhat different form being more fre- 
quently used in the New Testament in the expressions, 
"born again," "born of God," "born of the Spirit," etc., 
while the term regeneration is more common in modern 
usage. But they mean the same thing, describing the 
same doctrine and the same experience. They describe 
that condition and change of heart in which one be- 
comes a Christian or a child of God or a believer in the 
Lord Jesus Christ. "Except a man be born again; 
marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born 
again." 

Different Figures of Speech. 

The marvelous change in the saved man's condition 
is wholly spiritual, and cannot be described except in 
the use of physical terms. But we must keep in mind 
that these terms are only figurative language. The 
very words, new birth and regeneration, are figures of 
speech and descriptive of precisely the same thing. 
The expressions also "born of God," "begotten of God," 



The New Birth and Then Baptism. 137 

''born of the Spirit/' "born again," are of the same 
figure and mean the same thing. They are only dif- 
ferent expressions of one thought, descriptive of one 
work, designating the change in which one comes into 
new spiritual life, or becomes a child of God, or, speak- 
ing in common parlance, is converted and becomes a 
Christian. 

The figure of birth, a second birth or regeneration, 
is the figure most frequently used; but there are also 
other figures for the same thing. For besides being 
called a birth, or born again, this change is also called 
"a new creation'^ (2 Cor. 5: 17), a change of heart 
(Ez. 36: 26-28), ''a resurrection from the dead" (Eph. 
2: 5, 6), "a translation" (Col. i : 13). These different 
words and phrases are only so many different figures 
of speech to express something that has taken place in 
the human heart. All of them, and each of them sepa- 
rately, like the phrase ''born again," must be counted 
figurative language, and yet expressive and illustrative 
of wondrous and glorious reality. And that reality 
is the specific work which is wrought in the heart by 
the Holy Spirit, wherein one is quickened and raised 
up together with Christ, and so becomes a new creature 
in him, old things having passed away and all things 
having become new. 

This Work is of God. 

2. Manifestly it is not of man — in man as its sub- 
ject, but not of man as produced by him. It is put 



138 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

utterly beyond his power by these wonderful figures of 
speech, which clearly set forth both its nature and its 
authorship. It is not of man to make his heart new, 
to make for himself a new creation, to raise the spiritu- 
ally dead any more than to raise the physically dead. 
He cannot do these things for himself, nor can he do 
them for others. As well let him expect to change the 
leopard's spots, or to create stars, or to turn a cemetery 
into a living, worshiping assembly of people. He 
cannot translate his own heart from the kingdom of 
Satan into the kingdom of God's dear Son. Here man 
is utterly helpless. And the learning of this is to learn 
of his being lost and that he must seek help in another, 
even in one who is mighty to save. Here he looks out 
of himself and looks to the rock that is higher. 

Though man is lost, his condition is not hopeless. 
The change indicated in these figures not only empha- 
sized the necessity for divine power and interference, 
but lay in the plane of God's plan and purpose and 
promise of working. It is his to create, whether in 
making worlds and systems of worlds or in making 
us new creations in Christ Jesus ; it is his to raise the 
dead, whether of Jesus in the new tomb of Joseph of 
Arimathea or of a human heart dead in trespasses and 
in sins. 

This power of God is not only required, but is 
promised, is operative, is effective, and the sinner is 
born again, born of God, or is made alive in Christ 
Jesus and raised up with him by the same power which 
raised him from the dead, ''We are his workmanship. 



The Nezv Birth and Then Baptism, 139- 

created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God 
hath before ordained that we should walk in them;'' 
and believers "are born, not of blood, nor of the will 
of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." And 
God puts himself thoroughly and singly behind the 
mighty work of making the heart new, and pledges 
his power and promise both that it shall be done and 
that it shall be of the new and higher life. 

"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will 
I put within 3^ou : I will take away the stony heart out of 
your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. And J will 
put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my 
statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments and do them." 
(Ez. 36: 26, 27.) 

This doctrine of the new birth not only has no 
"fatalism'' in it, but is the outlet for man's deliverance, 
and opens the way for the dead to live, for the lost to 
be saved. God here works by units and makes hearts 
anew individually, each one in himself; and men come 
into the kingdom one at a time. Even if a nation is 
born unto God in a day, yet the nation is moved by 
units, and each man feels for himself the mighty power 
and experiences for himself the wondrous grace. He 
has everlasting life, and shall not come into condemna- 
tion, but is passed from death unto life. 

Manifestly a Human Side. 

3. And yet manifestly, and even necessarily, man has 
much to do with this work which so thoroughly is of 
God; much to do with his own being born of the 



140 Moral Dignity of Baptism, 

Spirit ; so much so, indeed, that he alone is responsible 
if in himself it be absent. Nature is full of conditions 
illustrative of this double agency in effecting wonder- 
ful results. Everywhere are signs of the limitations of 
human power, of the inadequacy and weakness of 
man's hand to do, and yet where at the same time man's 
hand is needed for the doing. 

In nature as in grace, in grace as in nature, the in- 
crease is of God, but man must plant and plow, plan 
and cultivate. The crop is a joint crop, and every- 
where man works together with God. The fountain 
flowing at his feet, the grain growing in the field, the 
fruit hanging on the tree, the flowers blooming in the 
garden — all of these are beyond man's power of mak- 
ing, and yet, in a profound sense, are the product of his 
hand, and are for his appetite and using and pleasure. 
In their richness they are his, and administer to his 
deepest physical needs. 

So also in the spiritual sphere, where these great 
principles hold in a higher sense, is there no human 
side to the stupendous fact of the new birth? What 
can one do concerning and in behalf of his being born 
of the Spirit of God ? This is really a momentous ques- 
tion, and requires honest consideration and candid 
answer. Herein lies the most weighty transaction with 
which man has to do, and its consequences are of the 
most commanding and imperial character. Just here 
marks the dividing hne between God's mercy and his 
wrath, between the lost and saved condition in the 
human soul. 



The Nezv Birth and Then Baptism. 141 

(i) Man can recognize the nature of the new birth 
as shown him in the word of God. To do this does not 
require much, and yet is basal and vital. The making 
of a peach is beyond human skill; its coloring and 
flavor and growth are not of man, but he may study 
its nature and recognize the forces that tend to its 
product. It is within the scope of man's power also to 
know the nature of this wondrous work which the 
Bible describes in figures at once so startling and pro- 
found. It is a change, a great change, which in its 
nature is divine and spiritual — divine as to origin and 
authorship, being wrought of God, and spiritual, being 
wrought in man's spiritual nature. "That which is 
born of the Spirit is spirit." 

It introduces no new faculty, works no violence to 
any constitutional element of man's nature, and yet 
affects in the profoundest way his entire intellectual, 
moral, and religious being. It is a change of heart — 
an inward change, not outv/ard at all, except in its 
fruitage, and even its richest fruitage is of the heart. 
Reformation is not regeneration. There is no room in 
Bible teaching or philosophical thought for "baptismal 
regeneration," either in doctrine or in fact. Much is 
gained in simply recognizing what is done for one in 
God's begetting him again unto a lively hope by the 
resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is only a recogni- 
tion. That is not much, but it is a start ; and a start is 
always better than a stand. 

(2) Furthermore, another thing which man may do 
In his being born again, he can admit the necessity of 



142 Mora! Dignify of Baptism. 

the new birth as it relates to himself. This is an 
immense advance upon the other, and is the point at 
which many hesitate. But it shows something in 
reach of man concerning this wondrous work. This 
strikes at every species of self-righteousness ; it marks 
man not only as a sinner needing forgiveness, but also 
sinful and needing a change in his very nature no less 
marked and radical than a new birth, or a new creation, 
or a resurrection; it calls out in fearful colors and 
coloring the exceeding sinfulness of sin in the human 
heart. 

One is slow, even after admitting the necessity of 
the new birth in a general way, to admit that he needs 
to have this work wrought in his heart and for him- 
self. And yet it is necessary with every one — necessary 
to his being a child of God, necessary to his having a 
heavenly inheritance and entrance, necessary to his ad- 
mission into church-membership with its ordinances 
and service, necessary to his spiritual discernment of 
spiritual truth. Christ's "ye must be born again" is true 
and imperative with every human heart. Let one bring 
himself face to face with Christ, who knows what is in 
man — listen to his word as he stand under his search- 
ing eye : '^Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a man 
be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." 
Believing his solemn, august words in the fullness of 
their meaning and as relates to yourself, you have done 
something looking to your being born of the Spirit. 
And we must not undervalue this something. It is of 
Immense importance as relates to oneself and to God 



The New Birth and Then Baptism. 143 

and to the mighty change which is yet to come in his 
heart. Without this first, however, would the change 
ever come? With it, one may not be far from the 
kingdom of God. 

(3) But another step is possible and full of tremen- 
dous moment. A man can submit himself unto God, 
and so put himself in line with the great agencies 
through which God moves and operates. This is pos- 
sible and actual every day in natural things and in 
temporal affairs. It is a possibility of immense im- 
portance in things spiritual — a possibility which lays 
at the door of every man's heart the responsibility of 
his being born of the Spirit of God. 

The new birth is necessary to some things. So also 
some things are necessary to the new birth, and these 
last must be done and they are for man's doing. They 
condition his being born of God, and seem even to 
limit God's power, or at least are in his plans of work- 
ing. Here, as in nature, are great lines on which God 
moves in this wondrous operation. "Of his own will 
begat he us by the word of truth ;" ''born again . . . 
by the word of God;" "the Gospel is the power of God 
unto salvation to every one that believeth," and the 
power of God also to the renewing of the human heart 
and making one a new creature in Christ Jesus. In 
submitting to God or to his word one submits to his 
wondrous power, not wholly unlike the field baring 
its bosom to the plowshare, which tears up the soil 
and throws open the furrow for the sowing of the 
seed and for the future harvest. 



144 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

There are also here In the spiritual realm things to 
be done; things man can do and must do, and things 
of tremendous moment. For example, serious thought- 
fulness — thoughts about God and Christ and sin and 
self; earnest prayer — praying for oneself, and others 
praying with him. Here surely one comes closely upon 
the very point of contact between the divine and the 
human — the one quickening and vitalizing the other. 
Praying is of the human heart, and hearing is of the 
divine heart. Man prays and God answers. Oh, that 
wondrous, wondrous touch of the divine with the 
human ! and the sinner is made alive in Christ, is born 
of the Spirit and becomes a child of God. 

Example of the Principle. 

A young boy having for the first time a New Testa- 
ftient lay under the shade of a tree reading the Gospel 
of John. Through the first chapter, through the second 
chapter, and into the third he came. When his eyes 
fell upon those searching words, ''Marvel not that I 
said unto thee. Ye must be born again," he laid the 
book down and prayed, ''O, Lord, let me be born again 
right now!" The Holy Spirit moved into his heart 
and wrought the work of grace. The boy leaped to his 
feet, rushed into the house shouting as he came, "O, 
mother, mother, something has happened; something 
has happened!" That was the new birth; it was of 
God. It came to the child as he read and prayed — 
the Spirit of God moving and leading the way even in 



The New Birth and Then Baptism. 145 

the prayer. Reading the word of God and prayer are 
mighty agencies of God's appointment and using for 
doing this work. And yet these are things for man 
to do. 

When the Jewish Rabbi failed to comprehend this 
gracious wonder of being born from above, Jesus 
turned him to an outward sight. He remembered and 
could understand the serpent of brass in the wilder- 
ness. And now, ^^as Moses lifted up the serpent in 
the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted 
up, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, 
but have eternal life." Believing is not the new birth, 
nor is the new birth believing, and yet "he that be- 
lieveth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God." Herein 
is the supreme moment of the soul, when, stricken with 
a deep sense of personal sin and guilt, sorrow and an- 
guish, it submits to God in the acceptance of his Son, 
and beholds for the first time *'the Lamb of God that 
taketh away the sin of the world." The work of grace 
has been wrought ; he is trusting in the Lord Jesus, is 
saved, and sings redeeming love. 

(4) One other thing on the human side. It is of 
man to discern the evidences of the new birth in his 
own experience. It is for him to know and say when 
the gracious work has been wrought. He may need 
as the child mentioned above, or as Samuel in the 
temple needed, some one to interpret himself to him- 
self, and to tell him the meaning of the voice that is 
sounding in his heart. But the work is in his own 
heart, and the witness is within himself that he is born 
10 



146 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

again, born of God and is a child of God. "The wind 
bloweth where it listeth ; thou hear est the sound there- 
of, but canst not tell whence it cometh, or whither it 
goeth. So is every one that is born of the Spirit/' 

We may know much, even in the midst of the most 
inscrutable things. And what is known must not be 
discounted by what is unknown. The blind man whose 
eyes had been opened knew that he had been blind, and 
that he could now see, but did not know who had 
opened his eyes. We need to emphasize the words 
''thou hearest the sound thereof," that is a great fact 
and is easily discernible. The new birth also is an 
experience, and is known by itself — one hearing and 
tasting and seeing for himself — each in his own ex- 
perience. "The Spirit himself beareth witness with 
our spirits that we are the children of God." 

There are wonders of the eye and ear and tongue, 
deeper wonders in the connection of these several or- 
gans with the brain, and deeper wonders still in the 
brain as the basis of mind, with its endowment of 
thinking power. Yet all these — eye and ear and tongue, 
are open to experiences which are their own evidence 
and which are discerned by him who sees and hears 
and tastes and thinks. 

So, also, with the marvelous passions of the human 
soul. Each and every one of them, whether in its calm 
or storm, is beyond human comprehension, and yet has 
experiences self-evidencing and also easily discernible. 
In the new birth there is a new experience, that tells 
its own wondrous story — known to him whose experi- 



The New Birth and Then Baptism. 147 

ence it is, and gladly made known to others. Before, 
the burden of his cry was, ''God be merciful to me the 
sinner!" But now, out of a heart where joy and sor- 
row strangely meet and mingle, he pours out his soul 
in this : "Abba, Father !" 

"Awakened by Sinai's awful sound. 
My soul in bonds of guilt I found, 

And knew not where to go \ 
Eternal truth did loud proclaim, 
The smner must be born again, 

Or sink in endless woe/ 

"When to the law I trembling fled, 
It poured Its curses on my head; 

I no relief could find; 
This fearful truth Increased my pain : 
The sinner must be born again,' 

Overwhelmed my tortured mind. 

"But while I thus In anguish lay, 
Jesus of Nazareth passed that way, 

And felt his pity move; 
The sinner, by his justice slain. 
Now by his grace is born again. 

And sings redeeming love/' 

All this lies above our comprehension, and yet has 
been realized in the experience of many, many thou- 
sands as the years have passed. It is the same old story 
told again and again by every one, who believing in 
Christ as Saviour has been born of the Spirit of God 
and has passed from death unto life. It is the common 
experience of grace. 

Finding Outward Manifestation. 

4. All this comes before baptism, independently of 
it, and in baptism finds an outward expression. The 



148 Moral Dignify of Baptism. 

new birth gives faith in Christ as its fruitage, and 
faith compels baptism as obedience to Christ's law — 
not in order to be saved, but because salvation has 
already come. The first word of the spirit of adoption 
is, Abba, Father ; the first word of faith in Jesus Christ 
as Saviour is a word of the renewed heart. My Lord 
and my God. Obedience then becomes easy, natural, 
necessary — necessary to meet the high requirements 
of the new life. He is baptized not to be born again, 
but because he is born again ; not to make him a child 
of God, but because he is a child of God. And his 
baptism is the answer of a good conscience toward God. 

This distinction is very important. There is a wide, 
wide difference between this and the coming to bap- 
tism to secure peace of mind from a sense of sin, or 
to obtain pardon of sin in an act of obedience, or to 
eflfect an inner change of heart by an outer physical 
performance. It differs as widely as heaven and earth 
from ''baptismal regeneration'' in all its different 
shades of meaning. Here you have a marvelous spirit- 
ual result wrought in the spirit of man by the Spirit 
of God. And baptism stands on the outside to repre- 
sent and symbolize the inner change. It is of immense 
importance to keep the two apart and to hold them in 
their proper relation. If one has not the new birth, 
then he has nothing for which to be baptized. His im- 
mersion a thousand times over would have no value 
or be of any avail or represent anything. 

This view is enforced and illustrated in the very 
form and nature and meaning of baptism, as it relates 



The Nezv Birth and Then Baptism. 149 

to the new experience and new condition. There have 
been conflicting views as to the relation of baptism to 
the new birth, but they all have a common point in 
emphasizing the importance of baptism and its high 
character because of its connection with this mightiest 
experience of the human heart. 

The most common view perhaps regards baptism as 
a symbol of the new birth — an outward sign of an in- 
ward sealing. This does not seem clear or adequate. 
Indeed it does not appear that baptism is a figure of 
a birth. But when another figure of speech is used, 
and the great change and new conditions are called 
not a being born again but a spiritual resurrection, 
then indeed baptism becomes its outward manifesta- 
tion and expression in a way at once beautiful and 
impressive. 

When one hears the voice of the Son of God in his 
soul dead in sin, and in answer to that voice lives and 
is raised up with him ; when he beHeves and hath ever- 
lasting life, and has passed from death unto life, then 
indeed baptism becomes a marvelous and glorious 
symbol of what has taken place in his heart. Here 
in a figure he is buried with Christ in baptism because 
he is dead to sin ; here also he is raised from the grave 
of baptism because he is alive to God; here also he 
makes expression of his faith in the death, burial, and 
resurrection of Jesus because of which he himself 
comes to live in him. He is baptized into Jesus Christ ; 
baptized into his death; buried with him by baptism 
into death; wherein also he is raised up again. Bap- 



150 ' Moral Dignity of Baptism, 

tism thus becomes the marvelous method of showing 
In a picture his resurrection to a new life, and tells 
also of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It does not 
give life, but is beautiful and sublime in showing to 
the world how one has life from the dead and how we 
live in him and to his glory. 

Thus the new birth is magnified as the greatest of 
all spiritual changes, almost the most marvelous of all 
the works of the Spirit of God. It stands alone in its 
glory and begins a work that becomes brighter and 
brighter to the perfect day. Nor does this view lower 
the nature and design of baptism, or lessen its value 
and high standing in the Christian system, but rather 
exalts it to its rightful place and makes it do honor 
to God and bring blessing to man. And so the ordi- 
nance will ever share in the renown of this great 
change, wrought by the power of God operating in 
human hearts, simply because it stands as a beautiful 
and instructive symbol of the change — stands for life 
from the dead, and for a larger life and a larger hope. 



CHAPTER IX. 

BAPTISM OF THE BELIEVER. 

"And Jesus said unto them, Go ye into all the world, 
and preach the gospel to every creature. He that be- 
lieveth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believ- 
eth not shall be damned." (Mark 16: 15, 16.) 

"What must I do to be saved? And they said believe 
on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and 
thy house. And they spake unto him the word of the 
Lord and to all that were in his house." 

"And he took them the same hour of the night and 
washed their stripes ; and was baptized, he and all his, 
straightw^ay. And when he had brought them into his 
house, he set meat before them, and rejoiced, believing 
in God with all his house." (Acts 16: 30-34-) 

THE first of these passages is Christ's command 
for preaching his Gospel; the second is the 
execution of this command by Paul and Silas 
in the case of the jailer and his .family at Philippi. 
There is preaching and believing and salvation and 
baptism and rejoicing. It shoves the relation of bap- 
tism to the believer and to his being saved. This is 
a typical case, and is repeated wherever the Gospel is 
preached and men accept Jesus Christ as their Lord. 

''Believer's Baptism'' is universally accepted among 
Christians as a doctrine and practice of the New Tes- 
tament. It needs no defense or enforcement. The 
only purpose here is to emphasize it by a specific in- 
stance, and to develop its meaning with the person 

(151) 



1^2 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

who is baptized. This magnifies baptism and gives a 
better view both of its significance and exalted char- 
acter. So we are led here to study the believer him- 
self, rather than his baptism. 

No Room for Infant Baptism. 

"Infant Baptism" is something entirely apart. As a 
principle and practice it is an occasion of division 
among Christians ; it has no mention in the New Testa- 
ment, although baptism is a New Testament ordinance, 
and has there every law for its government as to sub- 
ject and form and design. True, "baptizing infants" 
is not forbidden in the New Testament by word; and 
yet, it is even more powerfully prohibited by the very 
nature of the ordinance and by its requirement and 
meaning for the individual. Baptism is not possible 
with infants, simply because it is utterly beyond them. 
And indeed the command to baptize is a command to 
baptise believers, and there is no authority or even per- 
mission to extend it to others. This excludes all others. 

Moreover, scholars and leaders of every grade and 
name in denominations which practice the "baptism 
of infants," have admitted times and places without 
number that it has no command or even mention in 
the word of God. And such is their disagreement 
among themselves as to its value and ground of sup- 
port, that they destroy the arguments of each other. 
Every argument and reason advanced in behalf of "in- 



Baptism of the Believer. 153 

fant baptism" has been declared by some of its other 
advocates to have no bearing whatever on the subject, 
and to furnish no support to the practice. It would be 
easy to fill this entire volume with quotations to justify 
this statement. But what is the use? One can read 
the New Testament for himself, and this is being done 
more and more. And there is a growing disuse of the 
practice among those denominations who still retain 
it in their printed creeds and confessions of faith. 

An Essential Difference. 

Baptist churches alone advocate and practice the 
baptism of only believers, meaning by believers those 
who have and make public profession of personal re- 
pentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus 
Christ. Believers and no others can meet the require- 
ments of the noble and exalted service. 

It is not forgotten that the Disciples also ^^baptize 
only believers" according to their meaning of the 
words. But simple justice requires the statement that 
between them and the Baptists there is vital and fun- 
damental difference as to the meaning of saving faith, 
as to the condition of the believer in his relation to 
God and salvation, and as to the meaning and design 
of his baptism. They baptize in order to the remission 
of sins and in order to be saved, while Baptists hold 
just the reverse, that baptism is only for such as have 
been renewed, have passed from death unto life, have 



154 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

received the remission of sins and are already saved. 
They hold that baptism is essential to salvation, while 
Baptists hold that salvation is essential to baptism. 
There is an agreement between us and them as to the 
form of baptism, both holding to immersion, but in 
every other respect concerning the ordinance there is 
not only no point of agreement, but the widest dis- 
agreement, and disagreement, too, concerning funda- 
mental elements both in the doctrine and experience 
of grace. There can be no baptism without immersion, 
but there may be immersion that is not baptism. 

This difference is fundamental, and its statement is 
essential to the present discussion, that ''believer's bap- 
tism" may be rightly understood and appreciated, and 
that the right emphasis may be given to baptism, as 
showing its sublime character in baptizing a believer 
in the Lord Jesus Christ. 

His Believing Precedes His Baptism. 

I. The believer comes to baptism with faith in 
Christ and having what faith can give him. The jailer 
and his household came to baptism as believers, each 
believing in Christ and being baptized in personal 
obedience to him. Believing and obeying in their very 
nature are personal acts, and necessarily hold this 
order. In neither is there possible room for proxy. 

The first two recorded instances of baptism in 
Europe as the Gospel won its way westward, were the 



Baptism of the Believer. 155 

baptism of households — of Lydia and of the jailer. 
To introduce infants in these families as sharing in 
the believing and in the baptism and in the rejoicing, 
(i) is contradictory to the record, (2) is a strain on 
the imagination, (3) contravenes the command to bap- 
tize believers, (4) destroys the significance of the ordi- 
nance, (5) frustrates the whole plan of the Gospel, 
and (6) takes away the beauty of the wonderful tri- 
umph which grace had wrought in that heathen city 
and in those heathen families. 

The jailer and his family came as believers in the 
Lord Jesus Christ, having heard the preaching and 
having accepted him as theirs. And we must mark 
what the believer has and what he therefore brings 
with him when he comes to be baptized. 

(i) Viewed from the standpoint of divine opera- 
tion, the believer is redeemed, has been quickened, 
made alive from the dead and raised up wdth Christ ; 
is born of God, hath passed from death unto life, hath 
everlasting life, is saved, justified and adopted into 
the holy family ; is a child of God, having the Spirit of 
God. 'Whom God did foreknow he also did predesti- 
nate, and whom he did predestinate them he also called, 
and whom he called them he also justified, and whom 
he justified them he also glorified." He is saved and 
has salvation through the grace of God. 

(2) Viewed from the standpoint of human experi- 
ence and condition of heart, the believer has been 
awakened to a sense of sin and personal guilt (convic- 



156 Moral Dignity of Baptism, 

tion through the Spirit of God) ; has repented of his 
sin, turning away from sin with sincere sorrow and 
seeking forgiveness of God with confession; and has 
believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, accepted him as per- 
sonal Saviour, and committed to him the soul with all 
its high interest. It is a personal faith in a personal 
Saviour, receiving Christ with all that Christ is and 
can do in his behalf, and giving himself to Christ in 
supreme trust. 

It is only the high-born that can say : "I know whom 
I have believed, and am persuaded that he is able to 
keep that which I have committed unto him against 
that day." He finds expression for the new passion 
and joy and purpose of his new heart in the language 
of Thomas, ''My Lord and my God ;" or the language 
of Paul, ''I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless I 
live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the fife 
which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the 
Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me," 
or in the language of the song : 

Hallelujah! 'tis done, 

I believe on the Son, 
I'm saved by the blood 

Of the crucified one, 

(3) The believer has these things as viewed from the 
divine and the human standpoint. It is not necessary, 
or even wise, to discriminate between them as to 
precedence, except for convenience and better under- 
standing. In what God does, it is a work of large 



Baptism of the Believer, 157 

scope, and is done at once, and is complete; and the 
experience of grace is an experience of all coming 
together and at once, or recognized in progressive 
stages. 

The Order of Experiences. 

I remember a man accustomed to handle freight in 
a railroad depot. He had a strong, vigorous mind, 
though with little cultivation; his conversion was 
marked and powerful, and he related his experience of 
grace in a way showing great richness and clearness. 
As a way of illustration for myself I asked him which 
came first in his experience, repentance or faith. He 
thought for a moment, and then answered with ear- 
nestness in the language of his trade : ''Tears to me 
they all come in bulk.'' This plain man was near the 
center of profoundest truth where learned men have 
split hairs to little purpose and to much confusion. 
The feeling of the saved man is this : I was bHnd, he 
touched my eyes and now I see ; I was dead, he spoke 
the life-giving word and now I live in him. It is the 
same with all classes, though some may apprehend 
more clearly than others. 

Gathering up what God has done, and what the 
heart has experienced, and putting all into one, we call 
it salvation, and salvation is what the believer has when 
he comes to baptism. He is saved, knows that he is 
saved, and rejoices in his salvation; has all this in be- 
lieving and has it forever. In his faith he comes into 



158 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

union with Christ, and is one with him. Having Christ, 
he has all Christ can give. Hence these Scriptures : 

''Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be 
saved. He that believeth on him is not condemned. Ver- 
ily, verily I say unto you, He that heareth my word and 
believeth on him that sent me hath everlasting life, and 
shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from 
death unto life. He that hath the Son hath life, and he 
that hath not the Son hath not life. He that believeth 
that Jesus is the Christ is born of God. Is born from 
above ; born not of blood, nor of the .wiU of the flesh, nor 
of the will of man, but of God. Being justified by faith. 
The children of God through faith in Christ. If children, 
then heirs, heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ." 

So it is everywhere in the word of God, that believ- 
ing in Christ brings salvation. And the believer comes 
to baptism a saved man and with this new condition. 
Baptism does not make it, and cannot help to make it. 
It is the new condition indeed that brings him to bap- ' 
tism. He comes to the ordinance in loyalty to Christ, 
in obedience to his word, to give expression to the 
experience of his heart, to make public profession of 
faith in Christ, and is buried with Christ in baptism 
and raised up again to walk in newness of life. Only 
the believer can come to baptism; and only baptism 
(immersion) can give in picture adequate expression 
to the wonderful work of grace which he has experi- 
enced in Jesus Christ. He comes to baptism not to 
get something, but to give something — not to get sal- 
vation, but because he loves, believes, is saved, and 
finds joy in obedience. 



Baptism of the Believer. 159 

Facing the Form and the Formula. 

2. The form of the ordinance and the formula in its 
administration are both given us in high example. The 
baptismal form (immersion) and formula are from 
God. They were not devised by man, and should not 
be altered by him in any way. Any attempt at change 
only mars their beauty and infringes upon divine au- 
thority. They were given for all believers, and have 
held the same wonderful meaning throughout the 
centuries. 

The form of the ordinance, generally but wrongly 
called the "mode of baptism," was set by John when he 
baptized in the Jordan and at Enon, where he found 
much water. He was sent of God to baptize, and 
Jesus came to his baptism and was immersed in the 
"Jordan like the multitudes who flocked to the new and 
wondrous rite. The baptismal formula has its setting 
from Jesus himself, when in perpetuating the form of 
baptism, which he had himself received in the Jordan, 
he commanded for all succeeding ages that the believer 
be baptized "into the name of the Father, and of the 
Son, and of the Holy Spirit." Both form and formula 
were set for the believer, and must be kept together 
for the fulfillment of the high and august words which 
have come down to us from our Lord. Both form and 
formula demand a heart condition which is possible 
only with the believer as already described. All others 
of necessity are excluded by the very words of com- 
mand. This settles forever the question of who should 



i6o Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

be baptized. The baptismal formula is definite and 
powerful, both in its requirement and in its limitation. 
We dare not abridge or infringe. Here the believer is 
face to face with his Lord, to declare in action what 
has been done for his soul. 

Moreover, immersion is the only form of baptism 
that will answer either the believer's condition of heart 
or the believer's purpose as to his new life. He wishes 
to say something in his baptism, to give expression in 
figure and symbol to certain heart experiences and 
beliefs and hopes. In this act of baptism he wishes to 
say before all the world, ( i ) that he believes that Jesus 
died, was buried, and rose again; (2) that he himself 
once dead in sins has been raised up in Christ Jesus ; 
(3) that he parts with his old life and enters upon a 
new life to the glory of God; (4) that he believes in 
the future resurrection of the dead; (5) that here and 
now he declares his allegiance to Jesus Christ by fol- 
lowing his example and obeying his command in this 
appointed way. Nothing but immersion can tell all this ; 
and immersion does tell it simply, fully, gloriously. 

For this reason the form of baptism is made simple 
and clear in the word of God; and immersion as the 
Christian rite alone answers the word in which Christ 
gave his command, and is of universal acceptance 
among Christians. And no one who has been immersed 
ever becomes dissatisfied with his baptism on account 
of its form. It is to him the answer of a good con- 
science toward God, and expresses in great fullness and 
beauty all that he has experienced in his heart in pass- 



Baptism of the Believer, i6i 

ing from death unto life. While on the other hand it is 
a common occurrence that persons ''baptized by other 
modes" become dissatisfied, feel in their hearts they 
have not followed their Lord's high example, or kept 
his word of command, or answered the demand of their 
conscience, or given expression to the deep experiences 
and new hopes of their hearts. So they must either 
break away from their old alignment to rectify the 
wrong, or go through life with misgivings of heart and 
compunction of conscience. The form and the formula 
speak the same thing, impose the same obligation, and 
foretoken the same glorious and joyous consummation. 

Baptism, the Believer's Privilege. 

3. God has by his own appointment put great honor 
upon this simple ordinance. He has given it a place 
of exceptional distinction in his kingdom, and has made 
it a kind of uniform or royal badge in the family of 
those that are redeemed through faith in the Lord 
Jesus. Here man honors God; and here also God 
honors man. 

In putting on a uniform there is distinction both In 
the uniform and also In what it stands for with the 
man to whom it Is given. It does not make one a 
soldier; yet It marks him as a soldier, stands for the 
nation's honor, and demands high order of soldiership 
in his hfe. So with those in the army of our King 
who put on Christ by baptism. 

The nation's flag as a piece of common bunting adds 
11 



i62 Moral Dignify of Baptism. 

nothing to either the beauty or equipment or fighting 
force of the great man-of-war, above which it is un- 
furled to the breeze. And yet, out on the highway of 
the seas and wherever the ship goes throughout the 
world, that flag represents all the nation stands for, 
and its honor is the nation's honor whether given or 
received. So baptism ought always to mark one whose 
citizenship is in heaven. 

The baptized are an honored class, and stand sepa- 
rate in the world, committed to the highest and noblest 
life. God has dealt with them, dealt with them indi- 
vidually, and in a way at once gracious and marvelous. 
A glorious work of grace has been wrought in their 
hearts. They are the children of the King — not be- 
cause they are baptized, but baptized because they were 
his children through faith in Jesus Christ. And their 
baptism shadows forth all the mighty work which 
grace has wrought both in devising and executing the 
wondrous scheme of redemption. Wherever baptism 
comes, true, genuine baptism, there grace has come 
beforehand ; has wrought its work and now gives to the 
world this exhibition of its achievement, when the be- 
liever is buried with Christ in baptism, wherein also 
he is risen again to live a new life to the glory of God. 
Manifestly there are those for whom baptism was not 
intended, to whom the ordinance means nothing, and 
for whom it has no value. Some came to John for 
baptism, but with his discerning eye he marked them 
in the thronging multitude, and sent them away as 
not worthy of the sacred rite, that they might first have 



Baptism of the Believer. 163 

the inward condition and bring forth fruit meet for 
repentance. Simon Magus was baptized with others — 
their baptism being genuine, but his being false and 
perpetrating a fearful falsehood, though no doubt he 
was immersed and so had the form of our Lord's bap- 
tism. There was not, preceding his baptism, the right 
condition of heart in the sight of God that gives the 
special right to the ordinance. 

It is a fearful misnomer to call an immersion bap- 
tism when either the subject is wrong or when the 
design Is wrong. And worse than misnomer, to 
bring or admit to baptism those who are not in line 
with scriptural requirement. It becomes all concerned 
to bar the ordinance about with every possible pre- 
caution and protection, and see that it is kept in the 
form and only for those for whom alone it is intended. 
Baptism is for a class; it is the exclusive privilege of 
believers. No others are admitted to its sacred pre- 
cincts; but for the believer the way is wide open and 
lit up by the splendor from the other world. 

The baptism of the jailer that night at Philippi was 
a remarkable event. It told wonderful things that had 
been wrought in his heart and home ; it opened a new 
line of belief and life for him and his household, that 
has been a wonder to the world; it awakened a new 
joy and song of rejoicing in God. Baptized as his 
Lord had been, he reproduced the august scene of the 
Jordan, commemorated the resurrection of Jesus, de- 
clared his new heart and life, put himself in harmony 
Vv^ith the great doctrine of the Trinity, and forecast in 



164 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

hope the coming resurrection of the dead. What a 
marvelous change it all was, and all coming in so 
short a time! The sun had set upon him and his in 
their lost estate, and rose next morning to find him 
and his ministering to the saints, rejoicing in their 
new hope and believing in God. 

It is a wonderful scene, but not exceptional. It has 
a beautiful duplicate in the story of Philip's preaching 
to the eunuch of Ethiopia. 

"As they went on their way, they came to a certain 
water; and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what doth 
hinder me to be baptized? And PhiHp said, If thou be- 
lievest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he an- 
swered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of 
God. And he commanded the chariot to stand still ; and 
they went down into the water, both Philip and the 
eunuch, and he baptized him. And when they were come 
up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away 
Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more ; and he went on 
his way rejoicing/' (Acts 8: 36-39.) 

What doth hinder me ? — that is the word of the heart 
in the strength and ardor of new love. And from the 
days of the jailer at Philippi and of the Ethiopian 
eunuch until now, the beHever has found gladness and 
joy in his baptism. 

In all my Lord's appointed ways, 

My journey I'll pursue; 
Hinder me not, ye much-loved saints, 

For I must go with you. 

Thro' floods and flames, if Jesus leads, 

I'll follow where he goes ; 
Hinder me not ! shall be my cry. 

Whatever shall oppose. 



Baptism of the Believer, 165 

Thro' duty, and thro' trial too, 

111 go at his command; 
Hinder me not, for I am bound 

For my Immanuel's land. 

Baptism, the Believer's Obligation. 

4. While magnifying and rejoicing in baptism as an 
exalted privilege, we must never forget that it is also 
a duty. The law of baptism is positive and imperative 
as any law God ever gave, and as binding now as when 
first commanded. Disobedience here is like the dis- 
obedience of other laws ; obedience here like the obedi- 
ence of other laws. *^In keeping of them there is great 
reward." Standing true to duty, even the sternest and 
most trying duty, begets a sense, an air of freedom, 
and of lofty triumph, and of joy, and sometimes of 
rapturous joy. And so the obedience in baptism, as 
m.eeting a high and solemn obligation, awakes the song 
of gladness in the believer's heart. 

This arises in part from his new-found hope and 
life in the Lord Jesus, but in part also from the sense 
of obedience as he humbly and faithfully does what 
Christ has commanded and follows the example of his 
Lord, going as he went and doing as he did. To be 
baptized as Jesus was baptized is at once an inexpres- 
sible honor, a solemn and imperative duty, and gives 
a joy that springs in the soul from the touch it has 
had with heaven. The believer comes under the law 
of baptism, but it is a law, like all the laws of God, 
intended for his well-being. And its faithful observ- 



i66 Moral Dignity of Baptism, 

ance makes for order and good government in the 
kingdom of God and in the Hfe of his people. It is 
not optional with the believer, but positive and im- 
perative. 

"If ye love me keep my commandments. He that hath 
my commandments and keepeth them, he it is that loveth 
me; and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, 
and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. If 
a man love me he will keep my words. He that loveth me 
not keepeth not my sayings. If ye keep my command- 
ments, ye shall abide in my love. Ye are my friends, if 
ye do whatsoever I command you.'' (John 14: 15, 21, 23, 
24; 15: 10, 14.) 

These v^ords of our Lord reveal the foundation of 
the law of baptism and uncover the very motive and 
spring of the believer's obedience. The law of bap- 
tism is the law of love, and no law is more imperative 
or imperious than the law of love. Here is the very 
seat of the new government which Jesus came to es- 
tabhsh. We dare for him, or do for him, or die for 
him, or live for him, and all because we love him. 
There is absolutely nothing more commanding or more 
exacting than this high law of love; and almost no 
obedience that awakens a more gladsome joy. 

Baptism is essential, not to salvation, for it appeals 
to the believer who is already saved and in love with 
his Lord, but essential to obedience of his law, essen- 
tial as a manifestation of love, essential to loyalty in 
the kingdom where grace reigns, essential for outward 
expression of the experiences of the heart. Disobedi- 
ence here is unfaithfulness to oneself as well as dis- 



Baptism of the Believer. 167 

loyalty to his King. The mightiest law in God's uni- 
verse is the law of love; and the highest obedience is 
the obedience of love — an obedience which flows from 
the heart out into the life, as water flows from the 
fountain out into the plain. 

I recall a startling occasion in an early pastorate. 
A young lady in my Bible class professed conversion 
and gave evidence of a genuine work of grace. Her 
mother, at the head of an elegant home, though a 
professing Christian and member of the church, pre- 
vented the daughter from being baptized. Some six 
months later the daughter became seriously ill, and 
rapidly grew worse day by day. After some days of 
anxious waiting I was summoned to her bed-side with 
the word that she was dying. I entered the room just 
as the rays of the morning sun were breaking through 
the open window upon the sorrowful scene. I will 
never forget the greeting of that dying girl, nor the 
look of those deep searching eyes. "O, I am so sorry 
I have not been baptized." Words of explanation and 
comfort were spoken, how that baptism is not essential 
to salvation, and how one is saved by repentance to- 
ward God and simple faith in Jesus Christ. *T know 
all that," she said, and referred to former conversa- 
tions and former experiences in which her soul had 
found untold joy, and then added: "I am not afraid 
to die. Jesus is my Saviour, and I have given all to 
him. And yet, I wish I had obeyed his word and 
followed his examiple." That was her dying testimony, 
and she went away to be with God. 



i68 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

Many years have come and gone since then, and 
yet the words of that dear child are still ringing in my 
soul. Will we never learn that obedience is better than 
sacrifice? To do what God says is the safest life, the 
highest life, the only life for him who believes in Jesus 
Christ. As these words pass from pen to paper I 
wonder if perchance they will fall under the eye of 
some who see their duty plain and clear, but refuse to 
walk in God's way. O ! my reader, listen to that high- 
est of all voices ; this is the way, walk ye in it ; ye are 
my friend if ye do whatsoever I command you; if ye 
love me, keep my commandments. Boast not of salva- 
tion if Jesus be not your King and your acknowledged 
Lord, and his law imperative and masterful in your 
soul. 

The More Insistent View. 

Baptism of the believer — what a great, great theme 
it is ! Baptism is just the same now in form and spirit 
and purpose and lofty obligation, as when John bap- 
tized in the Jordan, as when Christ commanded to 
baptize "into the name of the Father, and of the Son, 
and of the Holy Spirit,'' as when the disciples bap- 
tized on Pentecost, or at Philippi, or at any other place 
where men heard the Gospel and believed in Christ as 
Saviour and Lord. There is no change in the facts of 
the Gospel, or in the doctrines of the Gospel, or in the 
ordinances of the Gospel. These are the same now 
and forever. Baptism means just as much to us, as to 
the jailer, or to the eunuch, or to our Lord. And to 



Baptism of the Believer. 169 

preserve it, and observe it, as Christ commanded is a 
special and exalted obligation binding on all who love 
him. 

There is even pressing, urgent need for the larger, 
more precise, and more insistent view. We cannot do 
here as we please, or even think as we please, except 
as we please to do what will please our Lord. The 
ordinances are at the very heart of organic and con- 
structive Christianity. Infringement on them means 
infringement on the organic law of the kingdom. They 
are not matters of small moment, but are comm.anding 
in every sense of the word, and demand obedience and 
loyalty to Jesus Christ as our Saviour and our King. 



CHAPTER X. 

THE BELIEVER^S RISEN LIFE. 

THE believer in Christ is the great New Testa- 
ment designation and distinction for those 
who are his. The believer and the unbeliever 
represent the two classes among men, the one saved 
because he has believed on the Son, the other con- 
demned already because he hath not believed on the 
only begotten Son of God. The believer is in Christ 
as the branch is in the vine, and is accepted in the 
Beloved. What he has, he has because he is in Christ; 
and being in Christ, he has all that Christ has and can 
give. 

Its Basis and Definition. 

I. The believer has wonderful pre-eminence in his 
risen life. He has been adjudged in Christ, and by 
the highest court in the universe, and is forgiven and 
justified from all things from which he could not be 
justified by the law of Moses; he is a new creature inv 
Christ Jesus, old things have passed away, and, behold, 
all things have become new. Christ is in him the hope 
of glory — formed or forming in him the hope of 
glory; and he is changed into the same image from 
glory to glory; and is kept by the power of God 

(170) 



The Believer's Risen Life. 171 

through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in 
the last time. 

He comes into this exalted and blessed relation by ^^ 
faith — believing in Christ as his Saviour, committing 
to him his eternal interest, and believing In God, who 
hath raised him from the dead. There is nothing in 
all the word of God higher or nobler or more blessed 
than this. By the risen life of the believer is meant. ^ 
his new heart-life and new world-life, which having 
its genesis and development in the heart through the 
faith of the operation of God, works its way outward 
and gives a life which should be of the highest and 
noblest character. He is in the world, but not of it. 
His citizenship is in heaven, and he is Christ's repre- 
sentative among men, is set for the defense of the 
Gospel, and is to be a blessing to the world. Living 
here he yet has his heart and home on high. 

Here we come into the inner courts of the Gospel, 
as to its genius and purpose, its intensest and most 
practical activities. The risen life of the believer may 
be called the Holy of holies in the Christian system, 
as regards its power to give life, to make character in 
every grade and class of men, and to shape the con- 
duct and course of human lives. In Christ as the 
branches are in the vine, so also they do honor to 
God and gladden the world in bearing much fruit. 

This risen life may be considered in its origin and 
author, in its manifestation and resources of power, 
in its activities and hopes and consummation. Con- 
cerning it the word of God speaks with great clearness 



i']2 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

and force, leaving no room for mistake, and looking 
to the ages to come when God shall show the exceed- 
ing riches of his grace in his kindness toward us 
through Christ Jesus. 

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming, and 
now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of 
God; and they that hear shall live.'' (John 5: 25.) 

^'That ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and 
what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the 
saints, and what is the exceeding greatness of his power 
to usward who believe, according to the working of his 
mighty power, which he wrought in Christ when he 
raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right 
hand in the heavenly places/' (Eph. i : 18-20.) 

"Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen 
with him through the faith of the operation of God, who 
hath raised him from the dead. If then ye be risen with 
Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ 
sitteth on the right hand of God. For ye are dead and 
your life is hid with Christ in God. When Christ who is 
our life shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him 
in glory." (Col. 2: 12; 3: i, 3, 4.) 

"Now are we the sons of God; and it doth not yet ap- 
pear what we shall be; but we know that when he shall 
appear, we shall be like him ; for we shall see him as he 
is." (I John 3-2.) 

These Scriptures are collated as setting out the basis 
and character and outlook of the risen life of the be- 
liever. Surely they are wonderful words with amaz- 
ing scope of thought and sweep of expression. They 
come both from the Master and the Master's disciples. 
Though brought together from a wide range of Scrip- 
ture, they yet present agreement and unity and con- 
tinuity, not only in expression, but also in thinking, 
and in that deeper experience which lies even beneath 
thinking in the great undercurrent of heart and life. 



The Believer's Risen Life. 173- 

Here again baptism is given a royal place among 
these lofty utterances. In figure and symbol it is made 
to stand for the mighty work which God has wrought 
in the believer's heart and life. The believer is buried 
with Christ in baptism, is also risen with him — and if 
risen with him, then he has a backward look to what 
has been done, an outward look as to life and conduct, 
an upward look for joy and inspiration and future 
coronation. The risen life of the believer is a glorious 
reality with baptism made conspicuous by its sublime 
setting forth of the wonderful works of God. 

Real Life from Real Death. 

2. There is nothing figurative in these terms, life 
and death. They stand for tremendous realities — 
spiritual life and spiritual death, and the further fact 
of transition, of passing from death into life. That 
is precisely the case of the believer; the life he now 
lives, he lives because of his resurrection from the 
dead, and his life is a risen life. This is true concern- 
ing the new life within, and that gives new life with- 
out. 

Everywhere in the word of God the sinners' con- 
dition is described as a condition of death. They are 
dead in trespasses and in sins; they are dead — not 
physically, not intellectually, not even morally — they 
walk, they think, their conscience is more or less active, 
and yet they are spiritually dead, dead to God, to right- 
eousness, to holiness. 



174 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

One may be blind, and therefore dead to all charm 
and beauty of nature and art, while alive and interested 
in other things ; one may be deaf, and therefore dead 
to sound — unmoved, untouched by the plaintive wails 
or the merry laughter or the loftiest strains of raptu- 
rous music — with silence and sound all one to him, 
though alive in other respects. One may be alive also 
in many respects and in reference to many things, 
while yet dead to spiritual things — dead religiously; 
dead to Christ and sees no beauty in him that he 
should desire him; dead to God and so unmindful to 
calls of mercy, unmoved by either severity or good- 
ness. There is death in his heart ; and if there be any 
risen life for him, there must first come a quickening 
and a resurrection from the dead. This is just as true 
of the believer's life here as of his life hereafter. Phys- 
ical death requires physical resurrection; spiritual 
death requires spiritual raising up with Christ. 

If we could apprehend the sinner's condition as 
God sees it and knows it, we would perhaps be startled 
and even appalled. To us his condition would be 
utterly undone and hopeless. Nothing is gained by 
shutting our eyes to this condition, or in trying to 
picture it as less terrible than is presented in the word 
of God, or in trying to reach it by remedies in human 
devices and appliances. 

If we once get a clear view of what is done in bring- 
ing deliverance from death here, and in bringing the 
risen life out of this condition, the way will be easy 
for belief in the physical resurrection of the dead. The 



The Believer's Risen Life. 175 

believer is alive — alive from the dead, and his risen 
life is a blessed, joyous fact. This is the change that 
has come ; he has passed from death unto life. There 
has been a resurrection just as real, just as wonderful, 
just as difficult, as the resurrection which shall be ac- 
complished in the final day. We do not depreciate 
that, but emphasize this. In Christ the believer is made 
alive through faith in him. 



The Faith of the Operation of God. 

3. The risen life is through the faith of the operation 
of God. God works in man to will and to do. The 
divine an'd the human come into conjunction, and mar- 
velous things are done. Herein is the glory of God, 
that he can do such things in us. 

"God, who IS rich in mercy, for his great love where- 
with he loved us, even when we were dead in sins, hath 
quickened us together with Christ (by grace ye are 
saved), and hath raised us up together, and made us sit 
together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. For by grace 
are ye saved through faith." (Eph. 2: 4-6, 8.) 

The word of God deals freely and easily with great, 
startling paradoxes — statements which seem contra- 
dictions, but which are harmonious beyond the reach 
of human wisdom. They are submitted to our faith, 
and we are left to believe and wonder and adore. 
Why should we complain, if in his own chosen way God 
works out his glorious results to our everlasting sal- 
vation and crown of rejoicing? The dead hear; the 



176 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

sinner lives while he is yet dead; the believer is dead 
and yet alive — dead and his life is hid with Christ in 
God. But why be disturbed about paradoxes when 
God is at work? when in the field of his operation 
there are the mightiest forces which he has revealed 
to us as described in the words already quoted — viz., 
the voice of the Son of God — exceeding greatness of 
power — the working of his mighty power — the same 
power which wrought in Christ when God raised him 
from the dead, and set him at his own right hand. 
With these infinite forces in operation we may with 
all confidence say, God can of these stones raise up 
children unto Abraham. And how much more can he 
lay hold on human souls now dead in trespasses and 
sins, and quicken them and raise them up with Christ 
to live with him! 

God is at work saving the lost as was manifested 
when Christ was on earth. The dead heard his voice 
then; and they that were dead were made alive again, 
raised up by the wondrous voice of the Son of God, 
whether the daughter of Jairus just dead, or the 
v/idow's son being borne to the burial, or Lazarus 
four days dead and in his grave. The voice that 
reached their ears and started again the beating of 
their hearts, sounds down in the sinner's soul and he 
lives. 

In making hearts new, in raising one up with Christ, 
God puts out the same power with which Christ him- 
self was raised from the dead. It is called "the ex- 
ceeding greatness of his power/' it operates "to usward 



The Believer's Risen Life. 177 

who believe," and we are said to believe "according 
to the mighty working," and it is the working "which 
wrought in Christ when he raised him from the dead." 
Herein is a wonderful thing; God at work in human 
hearts — more wonderful than even the making of 
worlds — a new creation more wonderful than the first 
creation — a second birth more wonderful than the first 
birth — a new life more wonderful than the old life — 
a raising up again unsurpassed in power and wonder 
and glory even by the resurrection yet to be. 

In magnifying this work as the work of God — ^the 
operation of God, there is no infringement on human 
accountability, no abridgment of man's responsibility. 
On the divine side it is the operation of God, while on 
the human side it is by man's faith of the operation 
of God — the power is to usward who believe. And 
the risen life is the risen life of the believer. 

Somehow beyond our comprehension, Lazarus dead 
— four days dead and in his grave — and yet took hold 
on the voice of the Son of God when that wondrous, 
wondrous voice took hold on him — as the steel without 
life takes hold of the magnet full of life. Somehow, 
also, down in the human soul God's operation takes 
hold on our faith, and our faith in response to his 
touch takes hold on his operation, and we live — are 
alive from the dead, risen with him through the faith 
of the operation of God. 

Here we come within the most holy precincts where 
God is saving men, is working both to will and to do, 
and where man is working out his own salvation with 
12 



178 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

fear and trembling. It is the believer who Is born 
again, born not of blood, nor of the will of man, nor 
of the will of the flesh, but of God ; he that believeth 
that Jesus is the Christ is born of God ; he that heareth 
his voice and believeth on the Son hath everlasting 
life, and shall not come into condemnation, but is - 
passed from death unto life. ^'He that cometh to God 
must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of 
them that diligently seek him.'' Though dead in tres- 
passes and in sins, they that hear shall live. It is Hfe — 
life from the dead — the risen life of the believer. And 
it is life through the faith of the operation of God. 

Gloriously Set Forth in Baptism. 

4. Not wrought but manifested, not effected but 
exhibited in this ordinance. And herein the ordinance 
comes to its exalted distinction by revealing and dis- 
closing in outward form this mighty working of God 
in the human soul. An outward symbol and expres- 
sion of that life which is hid with Christ in God. 

It is worth repeating here, and with fresh emphasis, 
that God made baptism and set it as a symbol in his 
kingdom. As much so as he made the stars and set 
them in the heavens. And both stars and baptism 
declare his glory and show his handiwork. God made 
baptism, not as a ceremony to work results in the 
human heart, but as a form to show in picture what he 
is himself doing with his own mighty power in mak- 
ing the believer alive from the dead, and to give out- 



The Believer's Risen Life. lyg 

ward expression to the new risen life — made this par- 
ticular form to show this particular thing. 

The ordinance, baptism, carries a composite thought 
and describes a composite act. There must be subject 
and spirit and design, and also the act of laying one 
down in the water and lifting him out again, if you 
wish to have that baptism which God made and gave 
to John, and which Christ received and commanded. 
Nothing else will meet the high service to which this 
ordinance is set. In this act there is immersion and 
submersion, representing death and burial, first of 
Christ and then of the believer with him ; there is also 
emersion in being raised up from the water, represent- 
ing two resurrections from the grave, first of Christ 
and then of the believer, and representing also that 
risen life which the believer now has in having been 
raised up with Christ. 

''We are buried with Christ in baptism, wherein also 
we are risen with him through the faith of the operation 
of God, who hath raised him from the dead. Therefore 
we are buried with him by baptism into death; that like 
as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the 
Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life. 
If then ye be risen with Christ, seek those things which 
are above." 

Baptism means death, and burial, and resurrection — 
symbolizes and shows in a picture these mighty facts, 
whether taking place with Christ or in the experience 
of the human heart when one believes in Jesus as his 
Saviour. It is a kind of mirror into which the believer 
looks and sees reflected and mirrored in marvelous 



i8o Moral Dignity of Baptism, 

precision and sublime beauty what has taken place in 
his heart through the faith of the operation of God 
who hath raised him up with Christ. For this reason 
among others, the believer is satisfied with baptism in 
the form of immersion, and finds in it the answer of 
a good conscience toward God and a figure of his 
being saved by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. 

Here is illustrated too how the risen life of the be- 
liever precedes his baptism and is no part of his bap- 
tism. Else there is nothing within to be represented 
without. First the original and then the image. 

Like the human eye, baptism out of its sphere dis- 
joints everything and is horrid to look upon, but in 
its place and held to its original form and purpose, is 
full of charm and beauty and significance and service. 
It came from God, is stamped with his mark, shows 
his work, and is his workmanship, making glorious dis- 
play of his grace. 

Necessarily Immersion in Form. 

In the New Testament baptism is clearly, and even 
necessarily, the immersion of believers. Everything 
indicates this and emphasizes this — the Saviour's im- 
mersion in the Jordan, the very word used in com- 
manding baptism, the references to the ordinance 
whether incidental or direct, and also its resemblance 
in form to those wonderful facts and doctrines which 
it is set to symbolize, and does symbolize, in a way so 
significant and beautiful. 



The Believer's Risen Life. i8l 

Moreover, baptism as immersion of the believer is 
coming more and more after years of conflict to be the 
judgment and testimony of the best scholarship of 
today, regardless of denominational name. This shows 
itself in scholarly exposition of the Scriptures ; and the 
great expositors are now simply saying what the com- 
mon people always feel in reading the New Testament 
for themselves. They see immersion and only im- 
mersion. And as the meaning of the ordinance is 
largely in its form, so its very form becomes at once 
its significance and subHme beauty. 

In a recent book"^ the author, Dr. H. A. A. Kennedy, 
himself a Presbyterian of high standing, writes as 
follows : 

''Baptism is, indeed, a vivid picture or illustration of the 
saving process. On the one hand, it sets forth the unseen 
experiences which are attained through faith. As the 
baptized person is plunged out of sight in the water, and 
then rises out of the cleansing element a mem_ber of the 
Christian community, so does the believer, who by faith 
appropriates the benefits of Christ's atoning death and 
resurrection, pass out of contact with the sinful life of the 
flesh, annulled on the cross, and rise in fellowship with 
the risen Lord to newness of life in the Spirit. 

"But, obviously, the picture also symbolizes the relation 
of the believer to the Spirit. For all that has happened to 
him in the experience of salvation, his death to sin (im- 
mersion beneath the water), and his entrance upon a new 
life (emergence from the water), is really accomplished 
for him in response to his faith, accomplished by the di- 
vine operation; is the work, as St. Paul puts it, of the 
Holy Spirit." 

* Paul's Conception of the Last Things, delivered first as The Cun- 
ningham Lectures before the Free Church College of Edinburgh. 



l82 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

This is the language of devout learning and scholar- 
ship in almost its most recent expression. It speaks 
with clear, ringing emphasis for the form of baptism, 
and for that form being essential to its meaning. The 
Christian world both in learning and in common judg- 
ment not only concede, but are insisting, that immer- 
sion is the one necessary form of New Testament bap- 
tism — and this too almost regardless of denominational 
distinction. Indeed, viewed otherwise its wonderful 
meaning disappears. 

While this makes a powerful and unanswerable plea 
for the form of baptism always maintained by our 
people, yet this is not the purpose of its introduction 
here. But the insistence here is for the noble and 
beautiful service of the ordinance in setting out the 
risen life of the believer. That service is in its form, 
and the glories of heaven are upon the believer's bap- 
tism wherein as a symbol he is buried with Christ and 
wherein also he is risen with him. The august scene 
of the Jordan is reproduced, and that marvelous word 
is heard again, This is my beloved Son. Herein is the 
majesty of baptism and its moral greatness. 

Inspiration and Commanding Outlook. 

Baptism has a language all its own. It is an oath 
of allegiance that is ever binding ; it is a profession of 
faith in a buried and risen Christ; and back of all 
this it stands for a mighty spiritual revolution. It de- 



The Believer^ s Risen Life. 183 

dares that the believer, once dead in sin, is now — 
even now — made alive and is risen from the dead. 

Our Lord began his life-mission, so far as concerns 
his public ministry, with his baptism in the Jordan. 
^'Thenceforth there lay before him trials and labors 
and sufferings and conflict and death, with ultimate 
triumph and enthronement and coronation/^ And ''for 
the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, 
despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand 
of the throne of God." Wherefore God also hath 
highly exalted him, and set him at his own right hand 
in the heavenly places. 

So also the believer, in his risen life, like his Lord 
in baptism, sets his face to the future for the life that 
now is and for the life that is to follow. In his risen 
life he demonstrates in personal experience God's 
power to save, demonstrates also the resurrection of 
Jesus and certifies the risen Christ. He is complete in 
Christ, and Christ becomes to him all and in all. He 
lives in Christ, and Christ lives in him. He is a living 
pledge for the final triumph of the Son of God and 
through him of all that are his. In a marvelous way, 
such as must be a constant wonder even to the angels, 
Christ has bound himself and the believer into one — 
an inseparable union; one in life here, one in destiny 
hereafter. Nothing can separate him from the love of 
God which is in Christ Jesus his Lord. 

If then ye be risen with Christ — since then ye are 
risen with Christy as shown in your baptism wherein 



184 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

ye were buried and are raised up again; that is the 
key word, ''risen with Christ/' the basal word, the 
word describing what has come to pass in the heart, 
and also the word prospective. The believer finds the 
basis of his risen life in Christ on the cross, and the 
inspiration of his new life in Christ on the throne. He 
sees within the veil and anchors there. He dedicates 
his life to Christ and to the fulfillment of Christ's mis- 
sion. As Christ was sent into the world, even so also 
he is sent into the world. The deepest and richest and 
most powerful thought of his heart is that Christ died 
for him to save him from sin, and rose again for him, 
and is now at the right hand of God in his behalf — his 
Intercessor, who ever liveth to make intercession for 
him. His supreme joy and glory is to live to the glory 
of God in Christ Jesus. 

''Set your affections on things above, where Christ sit- 
teth on the right hand of God. Now are we the sons of 
God; it doth not yet appear what we shall be; but we 
know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him, 
for we shall see him as he is. When Christ, who is our 
life, shall appear, then shall ye also appear with him in 
glory." 

How the heart is moved by the mighty sweep of 
these majestic words, and by their commanding out- 
look for the believer! Salvation is now present for 
him that believes — and Is progressive also, and all the 
while progressing and coming nearer than when he 
first believed. But none can tell the fullness of its 
glories and joys when consummated and realized in 
the presence of the King. Oh, to see him as he is, and 



The Believer's Risen Life. 185 

to be like him, crowned with glory and honor at his 
own right hand ! 

This in all the fullness of its meaning is the flower 
and fruitage of the risen life. We await the coming 
day. A far-away prospect as yet, but a prospect 
crowned with the splendor of even far-off glories. The 
believer looks within and finds much of conflict, much 
also of fear, and finds round about him also much 
that hinders and that seems out of accord with the joy 
and glories which are to come. Still he gets rich fore- 
taste of the full harvest, and keeps his affections set 
above, where Christ sits in the heavenly places. 

"Our Lord is now rejected. 

And by the world disowned, 
By the many still neglected, 

And by the few enthroned. 
But soon he'll come in glory, 

The hour is drawing nigh, 

For the crowning day is coming by and by. 

"Oh, the crowning day is coming, 

Is com.ing by and by, 
When our Lord shall come in power 

And 'glory' from on high. 
Oh, the glorious sight shall gladden 

Each waiting, watchful eye, 

In the crowning day that's coming by and by!'^ 

"I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded 
that he is able to keep that v/hich I have committed 
unto him against that day ; and am kept by the power 
of God through faith unto salvation ready to be re- 
vealed in the last time.'^ 

The Milky Way, stretching in brightness across the 



iS6 Moral Dignity of Baptism, 

heavens and as seen by the unaided eye, appears hardly 
more than so much star-dust. But as seen through 
a glass of moderate magnifying power, the stars sepa- 
rate, stand apart each in its own place; with an in- 
crease in magnifying power of the glass, they stand 
apart even more, become larger, and are seen as cen- 
ters of separate systems ; finally with magnifying 
power increased, the glory becomes greater and the 
stars stand off as making an opening through the 
heavens, then you look right through and on beyond 
the stars into depths of infinite distances. No one has 
yet dared to say what wonders might appear if only 
we had a magnifying glass of sufficient reach and 
power. 

Baptism appears to some very commonplace — too 
ordinary to enlist much attention. But to the eye of 
faith, and with the devout student, the ordinance takes 
on new meaning, assumes new rank, sets out great 
doctrines transcendent in themselves and more trans- 
cendent in conjunction with each other. We look to 
see what is in baptism, and there we read its wonder- 
ful story of the past, and there too we see something 
of the wonders of the present work of gracCo But why 
not a larger faith? Why not give our faith larger 
range and reach until we look right through the ordi- 
nance— se^ not only what is in it, but also looking 
through and beyond where there are depths on depths, 
and glory on glory, up to the very throne of God? 
There in the fullness of time God shall uncover the 
things which he has prepared for them that love him, 



The Believer's Risen Life. 187 

and the glory of what we see now shall be done away 
by reason of the glory that excelleth. 

"Thy saints, in all this glorious war. 
Shall conquer though they die; 
They view the triumph from afar. 
And seize it with their eye. 

"When that illustrious day shall rise. 
And all thy armies shine 
In robes of victory through the skies. 
The glory shall be thine." 



CHAPTER XL 

THE LORD'S BAPTISM AND THE LORD'S SUPPER. 

^ ''Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was bap- 
tized of John in the Jordan. And straightway coming 
up out of the water, he saw the heavens opened, and the 
Spirit like a dove descending upon him; and there came 
a voice from heaven, saying. Thou art my beloved Son, 
in whom I am well pleased." (Mark i: 9-1 1.) 

''And Jesus said. Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, 
baptizing them into the name of the Father, and of the 
Son, and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe 
all things whatsoever I have commanded you." (Matt. 
28: 19, 20.) 

"The Lord Jesus, the same night in which he was be- 
trayed, took bread: and when he had given thanks, he 
brake it, and said, Take, eat; this is my body, which is 
broken for you : this do in remembrance of me. After 
the same manner also he took the cup, when he had 
supped, saying, This cup is the new testament in my 
blood : this do ye, as oft as ye drink it, in remembrance 
of me. For as often as ye eat this bread, and drink this 
cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come." (i Cor. 
II : 23-26.) 

THESE Scriptures appeal strongly to our heart 
and imagination and loyalty. Here we come 
face to face with the only two ordinances in 
the Gospel — ^the Lord's baptism and the Lord's Supper, 
presented to us in great force and significance. They 
are the Lord's because they were observed by him, ap- 
pointed by him, commanded by him, set by him in the 
churches to teach and emphasize certain great facts 
and doctrines concerning himself. One came at the 

(188) 



The Baptism and The Supper, 189 

opening and the others at the close of his pubHc Hfe. 
Having himself observed them both he perpetuated 
them in his churches and for those who are his. 

They are in the churches, placed by him in the 
churches — in each individual, local body of believers, 
entrusted to its care to serve noble and sublime pur- 
poses within the circle of its own membership ; the one 
an introduction of members upon a profession of per- 
sonal faith in a personal Saviour, the other a service 
often repeated among the members in recognition and 
memory of their Lord and of their relation to him and 
to his death. And it is of immense importance that 
these two ordinances should be held as they were first 
placed, and held in their integrity and purity, and 
preserved in the unique and lofty purpose for which 
they were given. Every departure from this mars 
their beauty, mars their exalted character, and does 
violence to the very word and appointment and com- 
mandment of our Lord. 

It is very significant that Christ gave his followers 
only these two ordinances, each simple in the extreme, 
and yet beautiful, wonderfully sublime and impressive 
in its meaning and service. Through all the years 
and centuries they have come down to us, losing noth- 
ing of force, nothing of their rare charm, but like the 
sun and the seasons fresh with every return. They 
have now precisely the same meaning and bear un- 
dimmed our Lord's superscription and Image, as when 
he first observed them and spoke the words that fixed 



190 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

them in his churches to serve unto the end when he 
shall come again. 

This gives these ordinances exceptional distinction 
in the kingdom of God. Judaism had passed, or was 
passing away, with its system of elaborate and almost 
gorgeous rites and ceremonies. And in contrast and 
comparison these two simple ordinances — the Lord's 
baptism and the Lord's Supper — were appointed, not 
as substitutes for those ceremonies or in any sense tak- 
ing their place, and yet serving their own high mis- 
sion — as if God should blot out all the stars from the 
firmament, and then set two others, and only two, 
which should serve as sentinels in the night-watch of 
the ages. In the same exalted way, and perhaps with 
even greater emphasis, he has put honor upon baptism 
and the supper, and committed them to the care of 
those who love him and will be faithful in the high 
trust. 

The New Testament Law. 

I. The New Testament must govern concerning 
these two ordinances of the new dispensation. In all 
questions arising here settlement must be made by 
appeals to this new law. Not to family relations — not 
to men, however learned and wise and good — not to 
tradition, though dignified as church history — not to 
custom, personal comfort, or private preference or con- 
venience — not even to the Old Testament Scriptures. 

Baptism and the Supper are New Testament ordi- 
nances, and all questions concerning them must there- 



The Baptism and The Slipper. 191 

fore be settled by the New Testament law. If it be 
silent, silence best becomes us ; if it command, verily 
"to obey is better than sacrifice/' We have no right 
even to think as we please about baptism and the 
supper. Here private right and individual duty coin- 
cide ; it is at once our right and our duty to study the 
New Testament for ourselves and so find out what 
we must think and do concerning these high matters 
which God is requiring at our hands, and for which 
each one must give account in personal obedience. 

There is a fixed order between these two ordinances. 
It is this, baptism and the supper, not the supper and 
baptism. They come to us from our Lord in this 
order, and are so stamped with his authority. This 
order is of universal acceptance by all denominations 
of Christians, an individual here and there dissenting, 
as being the order authorized and commanded in the 
New Testament. 

There is no authority for inviting or admitting the 
unbaptized to the supper. There is fundamental law 
against it. A father who was pastor of a Baptist 
church received his own daughter for membership 
upon a profession of faith. At the same service, and 
immediately after she had been received, the Lord's 
Supper was administered. Of course the father did 
not invite even his own child to the Lord's Supper. 
She had not yet been baptized, and baptism precedes 
the supper, and she could not take of the Lord's Sup- 
per until she had first been baptized with the Lord's 
baptism. This is no unkind discrimination against her 



192 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

or disparagement of her experience or profession, and 
preserves the Gospel order as interpreted by all. 

The prerequisites, prescribed and required as under- 
stood and stated, at least nominally, by all the creeds 
and confessions of faith, are these — namely, profession 
of faith in Jesus, baptism, and church membership. 
This covers what is commonly, but erroneously, called 
"close communion." It is the Baptist view of the 
Lord's baptism in its relation to the Lord's Supper. 
There is no difference between Baptists and others, 
either in the principles or the prerequisites or the order. 
We simply insist that the Lord's baptism and the 
Lord's Supper must be observed as the Lord requires. 
The issue between us and others really concerns bap- 
tism, and this issue in its last analysis is a question of 
much moment. It is a question not of ''how much 
water," not about "going to one place by different 
routes," but simply and earnestly a question of obedi- 
ence. We ought to understand this issue and insist 
upon the principle of obeying the commandments of 
our Lord. 

Christ has put restriction on these ordinances ; before 
baptism there must be faith; before the supper there 
must be baptism. Baptism is the privilege of be- 
lievers, and the supper is the privilege of baptized be- 
lievers who are walking orderly before the Lord and 
among their brethren. Restriction of baptism means 
restriction of the supper, and the law, as interpreted by 
all, means the restriction of both ordinances. 

There seems to be a fundamental reason for the 



The Baptism and The Supper, 193 

order in which these two ordinances come. Baptism 
indicates the beginning of the new Hfe, and so comes 
first and at the beginning — and only once. The supper 
marks the maintenance and continuance of life, and 
so comes after and is of frequent repetition. Baptism 
as a symbol shows spiritual life to be connected with 
Christ in its beginning; the supper shows spiritual life 
to be connected with Christ in its continuance. In 
baptism we have a picture of being quickened into new 
life ; in the supper a picture of the new life feeding on 
Christ — as when the daughter of Jairus was raised 
from the dead, they set refreshments before her. There 
is no need for the supper until after baptism — no need 
of feeding life until there be the sign of life begun. 
Displacing the ordinances disarranges the system and 
destroys their beauty and meaning. Baptism first, and 
afterwards the supper. 

Their Relation to Heart Religion. 

2. There is no antagonism and nothing incompatible 
between genuine heart religion and these two beauti- 
ful ordinances. One cannot be a substitute for the 
other, as water and bread and wine cannot be a substi- 
tute for life. Indeed comparisons, prejudicial to the 
ordinances, or detrimental to their dignity and sig- 
nificance and importance, must be avoided. "Which 
is the more important?" is not a proper question. 
Which is more important, eating or sleeping ? the beat- 
ing of the heart or the bellows-like movement of the 
18 



194 Moral Dignity of Baptism, 

lungs ? There are no "non-essentials" in Christ's king- 
dom. Things may be of tremendous moment and im- 
portance — each in its own place — and yet have no an- 
tagonism or even comparison with each other. 

It is very important and yet rather difficult to hold 
the externals of religion in their proper relation to the 
internal — the outward observance in its proper relation 
to the inner experiences of the heart. A right condi- 
tion of heart in the sight of God is surely of paramount 
importance ; indeed without this first, nothing else can 
be taken into account nor be of any value. And yet 
heart religion is not everything ; indeed it demands in 
its very nature some other things in the outward life 
as an external observance. 

Baptism and the supper may be called the externals 
of the Gospel system — but not non-essentials. There 
is no saving efficacy in either of them, or in the two 
together. But who will venture to say that these ordi- 
nances are non-essential or of little moment in the 
kingdom of God? A five-hundred-dollar note is 
not worth ten hundred dollars ; but it is not therefore 
worthless nor of little consequence. Baptism and the 
supper have a value of their own, and bear the signet 
of the Master's authority, and hold really an exalted 
place in his kingdom and service. They cannot save, 
and yet to leave them undone and neglected is a fear- 
ful thing. Disobedience is always hurtful and danger- 
ous. If the heart be right, the externals follow as the 
stream follows the opening of the fountain. Obedience 



The Baptism and The Supper. 195 

is of immense moment as the intelligent expression of 
a right heart. 

The true relation between heart religion and the 
commandments and ordinances of the Lord, including 
baptism and the supper, finds a clear, strong statement 
in the word of God : 

^1 will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit 
within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their 
flesh, and will give them a heart of flesh; that they may 
walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do 
them." (Ez. 11: 19, 20.) 

Be sure your heart is right in the sight of God; be 
sure also that you "walk in all the commandments and 
ordinances of the Lord blameless." (Luke 1:6.) It 
is not of the spirit of heart religion to belittle or neglect 
the outward in the Lord's appointments. Those who 
love him most find most their meat and drink in doing 
his will. 

Of Equal Rank and Importance. 

3. Out of comparison with heart religion, baptism 
and the supper are also out of comparison with each 
other as to merit and value. They are both externals, 
ordinances and commandments of the Lord, are of 
equal rank In his kingdom and of equal importance, 
each in its own sphere and purpose in his service, and 
mark the outer life of those who love him and desire 
to honor him. 

This equal rank is recognized in all the pubHc and 
authoritative utterances of the different denominations. 



196 Moral Dignity of Baptism, 

Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, and 
all others, so far as their creeds are known to me, hold 
baptism and the supper of equal importance. And if 
there be any preference in the printed creed, it is rather 
for the ordinance of baptism. Throughout these pages 
also baptism has been magnified and exalted, holding 
as it manifestly does a high place in the great system. 
But baptism has no place above the supper, and the 
supper has no place above baptism. It is enough of 
honor and dignity and exalted character for either, to 
say they are of equal rank and importance. 

There has grown up among Christians a sentiment 
concerning the supper that is richer, more tender, more 
touched with awe than the prevalent feeling concern- 
ing baptism. It is counted of more importance, is 
talked of with hushed breath and moistened eye, while 
baptism, despite its great place in the creeds and its 
high place in the New Testament, is much disregarded, 
and sometimes becomes even the subject of jest and 
jibe. This is wrong. Let there be no lowering of 
sentiment concerning the supper, but an elevation of 
sentiment and conversation concerning baptism, a faith- 
ful holding them in full harmony with their moral dig- 
nity and high standing in the service of the Lord. 

They are associate ordinances, and rest upon pre- 
cisely the same authority — the commandment of God; 
they are equally positive institutions, governed by posi- 
tive law from which there must be no deviation and 
no change; they were shown no preference over one 
another by Christ in word or action. He observed 



The Baptism and The Supper, 197 

both; he appointed both; he commanded both; he set 
them both in high places, and charged them with 
great and glorious meaning, to stand among his people 
for their observance to the end of time. 

They are equal in their symbolic import. We are 
buried with Christ in baptism, and so express our faith 
in a risen Christ, and declare our new life through his 
resurrection and our union with him. We partake of 
the supper and so declare our participation by faith in 
his death and atonement. In their symbolism they 
stand separately and distinctively for the greatest 
paradox in the word of God, showing the Lord's death 
till he come. They are both monuments, together and 
separately commemorating the death, burial, and resur- 
rection of Jesus. They give monumental evidence of 
these great facts, and bear testimony to our oneness 
with him and our life in him. They are alike beautiful 
and full of meaning — telling at once of his risen glory 
and of the greater glory when he shall come the second 
time without sin unto salvation. We must not dis- 
criminate where Christ himself, by precept and ex- 
ample and doctrinal significance, has united and hon- 
ored these two ordinances. 

Must be Kept for Christ. 

4. As his ordinances Christ has left them in our 
keeping. They are visible expressions of invisible 
realities, living mementos of things that have been, 
and wonderfully prophetic of things yet to be. Our 



198 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

very loyalty to Christ almost reduces itself to our loy- 
alty in his ordinances. What we do with them will 
indicate what we do with him. To honor his ordi- 
nances is to honor him ; to preserve them and to obey 
them is to be loyal to him. There is enrichment of 
soul and immense gain to the outer hfe in cultivating 
the spirit of obedience and the sense of obligation to 
Christ in the outward things he has commanded. 

Baptism and the supper are in danger from two 
entirely different things — namely, the spirit of contro- 
versy and the spirit of ''Christian liberality/' so called. 
At times and places controversy has caused the people 
to disregard the ordinances, or to talk of them only 
in the spirit and language of strife. Indeed baptism 
and the supper have caused the fiercest conflicts through 
the centuries, and today are foremost in causing di- 
visions among the followers of Christ. This is a 
source of regret, and yet shows the immense impor- 
tance of the ordinance and the earnest conviction and 
purpose to withstand any infringement on their exalted 
character and to maintain them as our Lord gave them 
to his people. Controversy may be bad, especially when 
conducted in an unchristian spirit, and yet better this 
by far than unfaithfulness to Christ and Christ's laws 
and ordinances. Any surrender here, or compromise 
of any kind, would be traitorous to Christ, and dis- 
astrous to his truth and to his ordinances as expressing 
great truth. 

The danger at this time lies in the other direction, 
when men plead for ''Christian hberality," and Chris- 



The Baptism and The Supper. 199 

tian union, and a surrender of convictions or an abridg- 
ment of the outward in religion. 

My sympathies lie along the line of a broad Chris- 
tian fellowship with all who bear the Master's name 
and show the Master's spirit. But ''Christian Union'' 
not intelligently grounded, not wisely stated, or pressed 
too far, is certainly detrimental if not destructive of 
the ordinances of Christ. There is a difference between 
denominations, and it concerns the ordinances largely, 
and it is not a difference concerning trifles. It must 
be respected, and is not to be overridden by the any- 
thing-you-please spirit which sometimes shows itself. 
There are some things on which "Christian liberty" 
must not lay its hands — some things which "Christian 
liberality" cannot give away. There is earnest and 
pressing need for profounder conviction of truth and 
less talk of "it makes no difference." There is need 
for a higher type of the spirit of Christian brotherhood 
between denominations, that v/ill recognize and respect 
the convictions of each other, and that will unite in 
withstanding the current of "liberal ideas." Christ 
never prayed for a union among his followers that 
would set aside or in any way disregard his ordinances. 
A union that is worth the name must be loyal to him. 
There is pressing need that every one shall have "the 
courage of his convictions," but a far more pressing 
need for convictions of truth that will make one cour- 
ageous in the matter of law and order in the kingdom 
of Christ. This is first, always imperial, and even im- 
perious in its high and holy demands. 



200 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

When pleading at one time for this same high sense 
of loyalty to Christ, and speaking of the Baptists and 
their view of communion, Dr. John Hall, one of the 
foremost Presbyterian preachers in his day, gave out 
this earnest word : 

"It is doubtful if, considering the length to which 
liberal ideas have been carried in this country, there be 
not some gain to the community as a whole, for a large 
denomination making a stand at a particular point, and 
reminding their brethren, that, there are church matters 
which we are not hound, are not even at liberty to settle 
according to the popular demand — as we would settle the 
route of a railroad.'^ 

This emphasis is just, and for a principle that suffers 
much violence from well-meaning people. Loyalty 
to Christ is the first consideration. Looseness In obedi- 
ence at one point will bring looseness elsewhere in the 
keeping of the law. We cannot settle church matters 
as we settle railroad matters — simply by convenience 
and popular preference. Christ's law is the supreme 
test and should hold all who are his. 

A Serious Violation. 

5. Fearful violence has sometimes been done these 
ordinances. Another example may be cited, quite the 
opposite from Dr. John Hall, and in almost startling 
contrast with his loyal spirit and commanding words — 
viz. : the late Dean Stanley, an Episcopalian of the 
Church of England. Some years ago, just prior to his 
death, he published an article on Baptism, in which may 



The Baptism and The Supper. 201 

be seen the dangerous tendency concerning the ordi- 
nances. After asserting all that Baptists could wish 
as to ''the mode of baptism," he declared there came a 
''change in the form itself/' a change from immersion 
to sprinkling as baptism. 

Earnestly and stoutly he insisted that immersion was 
the original form — the form which Christ observed and 
commanded, the form which the apostles practiced and 
enjoined, the form which was almost universally prac- 
ticed until the beginning of the seventeenth century. 
Dean Stanley declared for all this, each one specifically 
and simply as a statement of historical fact in a way 
that left no room for doubt, and then expressed his 
sanction and even his pleasure in the change from im- 
mersion to sprinkling. 

"By the general sentiment of Christian liberty this great 
change was effected/' because "the practice of immersion, 
apostoHc and primitive as it was, was peculiarly unsuitable 
to the tastes and convenience and feelings" of the West- 
ern public in the seventeenth century ; "no one v/ould now 
wish to go back to the old practice, though it had, no 
doubt, the sanction of the apostles and of their Master." 
The change from immersion to sprinkling "is a striking 
example of the triumph of convenience and common sense 
over the bondage of form and custom." 

These are amazing words. Here Dean Stanley em- 
phasizes immersion as the original form, commanded 
by Christ and practiced by the apostles — emphasises 
the change that took place — and justifies the change 
on the ground of "convenience and common sense.'' 
A positive institution was changed essentially and rad- 



202 Moral Dignity of Baptism, 

ically ; the law of Christ was deUberately set aside — all 
for ^'common sense and convenience !" 

This brings us squarely to the question of loyalty 
and obedience. What is to be our guide in this matter ? 
"General sentiment of Christian liberty ?" "The tastes, 
the convenience, and the feelings" of a particular peo- 
ple in a particular country ? "Common sense ?" What 
then becomes of Christ's law ? What of the New Tes- 
tament as the supreme authority? Let the spirit and 
principle of Dean Stanley prevail, and nothing is stead- 
fast; baptism will go entirely; the Lord's Supper will 
soon follow ; creeds — definite forms of definite belief — 
will also go. If the "tastes and conveniences and feel- 
ings" of the seventeenth century may deliberately 
change the ordinance of baptism from immersion to 
sprinkling, then the "tastes and conveniences and feel- 
ings" of the twentieth century may sweep the whole 
thing away. 

This summary and high-handed method of dealing 
with the ordinances has caused controversies and con- 
flicts in the past, and will inevitably lead to them In 
the future. Of course such things will find resistance 
and bring conflict and divisions. Division, bad as it is 
between the followers of our Lord, is far better than 
the setting aside of his positive law for "common 
sense." There are those now as always in the past who 
hold, like Dr. John Hall, that "church matters cannot be 
settled by the popular demand, as you determine the 
route of a railroad." It is far better even at any cost 
"to go back to the old practice which had the sanction 



The Baptism and The Supper. 203 

of the apostles and their Master/' Better far to retrace 
our steps and walk the path our Master walked and do 
the things he commanded and follow in the example he 
set for us. ''Common sense" cannot propose anything 
w^hich will justify disobedience to his law — otherwise 
''common sense" will prove traitorous and play the part 
of Judas afresh in betraying our only law-giver. 

And we must not forget the great host of those who 
now hold and always have held baptism as Christ gave 
it, and who have not given up immersion for sprink- 
ling. There is no need for going "back." And we 
must remember, too, that the learning and scholarship 
and piety of the world have always sanctioned what 
was first sanctioned by the apostles and their Master; 
and all the more of late are coming to assert with more 
vigor that immersion was the "original mode," and to 
recognize that "the change from immersion to sprink- 
ling" was high-handed infringement of Christ's law, 
and obscures the beauty of the ordinance and destroys 
its wonderful meaning in its relation to the great facts 
and truths of the system. The change was wrong, 
and has wrought untold harm to truth and dishonor 
to Christ. 

The Supremacy of Christ's Law. 

6. The law of Christ concerning these ordinances is 
imperative. Baptism and the supper are still binding, 
and require obedience at our hands. They are the 
same now in form and spirit and meaning as with the 



204 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

early Christians. To change them, or mar them in 
any way, is to break the law of Christ, and has in it 
every essential of disloyalty. Duty seems clear. His 
voice of command comes to us — teach them to observe 
all things whatsoever I have commanded you ; this do 
in remembrance of me — as oft as ye eat this bread and 
drink this cup ye do show the Lord's death till he 
come. Baptism must still tell in lofty symbol of his 
death and burial and resurrection, also of our union 
with him in the risen life ; the supper as the new testa- 
ment in his blood must still tell in symbol of its shed- 
ding on the cross for the remission of sins and of our 
continued life in him. And together baptism and the 
supper must show to all the world our loyalty to him. 

A plea for these ordinances is a plea for organic 
Christianity, and should appeal to all Christians of 
every name. We must give them due prominence, and 
so fulfill the law of Christ. They are still the Lord's 
Baptism and the Lord's Supper. They are our high 
privilege and solemn, earnest duty. Enshrine these 
ordinances in your hearts for conservation; let the 
love of the Master kindle and glow around the Master's 
institutions and become most ardent and unconquerable 
when standing for faithfulness and loyalty in the things 
he has commanded. 

It becomes us surely to give these ordinances that 
high and exalted place which they held with him. It 
is ours to cultivate a sense of duty, to cherish above 
much the exalted privilege, and to get a greater and 
more lofty conception of these beautiful and sublime 



The Baptism and The Supper. 205 

ordinances. Herein we will honor our Master in hon- 
oring the things that are his ; herein also we will walk 
in the path in which our Master first walked and on 
which the glory and blessing of his presence are resting 
today, and which shall give something of the fuller 
blessing and glory when he shall come again. These 
ordinances declare for his Lordship over all, and his 
Lordship over all is essential to his being the Saviour 
of men. In the Lord's baptism and the Lord's supper, 
as surely as in any service, we may crowm him King of 
kings and Lord of lords. 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE ESSENTIAL FORM OF BAPTISM. 

THE ordinance, baptism, is larger in meaning 
than the word, baptism. We need to discrim- 
inate between them for the sake of emphasis 
and clearer understanding. In speaking of baptism we 
should at least have in mind which is intended, the 
ordinance or the word. 

The ordinance while signifying more than the word, 
yet derives both its name and its form from the word, 
and becomes known and recognized as baptism. And 
so the word is used for the ordinance, counted synony- 
mous with the ordinance. This comes from the fact 
that the word has peculiar force, and describes even 
in spectacular way a definite act, which in turn be- 
comes itself full of momentous significance. The ordi- 
nance is named baptism because it baptizes; just as 
John, the forerunner of our Lord, is called the Baptist 
because he came baptizing. In the same way the word 
by the very force of its meaning has given the ordi- 
nance its form. 

Form means "a model, an example, a pattern placed 
before us to be held fast and copied ; a pattern in con- 
formity to which a thing must be made or done." In 
this sense the ordinance of baptism is a form. The 
meaning of the word baptism, and all that is said 

(206) 



The Essential Form of Baptism, 207 

throughout this volume and throughout the New Tes- 
tament, requires immersion as the essential form of 
the ordinance. Jesus commanded the ordinance, gave 
us the pattern, set the example or model for its ob- 
servance. And that model is immersion. 

^ "Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was bap- 
tized of John in Jordan." (Mark 3:9.) 

"We are buried with him by baptism, wherein also we 
are risen with him." (Col. 2: 12.) 

"Ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine 
which was deHvered you." (Rom. 6: 17.) 

"One Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father 
of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all." 
(Eph. 4: S.(>-) 

"Hold fast the form of sound words, which thou hast 
heard of me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus." 
(2 Tim. 1 : 13.) 

''Having a form of godliness, but denying the power 
thereof — this is not a word against form., but rather 
against having the form without the power. It com- 
mends form, and implies that it may be full of the 
power and beauty of godliness — as the method and 
general expression of godliness. Godliness is of the 
mind and heart, as in beliefs and experiences, while 
the form is outward, giving expression sometimes in 
words, sometim.es in actions. 

Inner conditions of soul are sure to find their ex- 
pression in outward action, sometimes in tone of voice, 
sometimes in words, and sometimes in simple attitude 
of body. And this is form — the form of godliness, if 
it be an expression of godliness, and may be marked 
by simplicity and full of beauty. Godliness of the 



2o8 Moral Dignity of Baptism, 

heart shows itself in the life — ^whether in prayer, or 
song, or baptism, or giving, or worship, or loftiness 
of conduct, in a godly walk and conversation, ''walk- 
ing in all the commandments and ordinances of the 
Lord, blamxless." It is a far-reaching principle and 
gives vital connection between the inner and outer life, 
between the heart-life and the world-life. This is 
lofty obedience — obedience from the heart — obedience 
in right form — obedience in faith and love which are 
in Christ Jesus. 

A Plea for Obedience. 

Here we make the plea for obeying Christ's law 
in letter and spirit, the plea also for the ordinance of 
baptism in its form and purpose. The absence of right 
spirit or design mars and vitiates the act, while absence 
of right form is utterly destructive of the ordinance 
itself. With the right form gone, the act is no longer 
baptism. The form therefore is a matter of much con- 
cern to the believer who desires to do the Master's 
will, and to obey from the heart the Master's command, 
and to follow the Master's example in faith and love. 
The form is also of much concern to the cause of Christ ; 
for it involves the integrity of his law, the purity of his 
ordinance, and the holding fast of great doctrines and 
even facts concerning himself. No one who loves 
Christ and is loyal to him can be indifferent to this 
pressing question. The form is not only of conse- 
quence, but is essential 



The Essential Form of Baptism, 209 

Here we come upon a serious division in the Chris- 
tian world, a division of sentiment and practice among 
the followers of our Lord, a division concerning things 
which he has commanded. The division concerns bap- 
tism — concerns the form of baptism. The one part 
holds that the form is pouring or sprinkling ; the other 
part claims that the form is immersion, and only im- 
mersion ; both agreeing in the one Lord and largely in 
the one faith, but divide at the one baptism. This in- 
creases the gravity of the situation, and should con- 
strain every one to face the issue honestly and in fear 
of God, and each one for himself. 

Our appeal must be to the New Testament alone. It 
is the law of baptism, our only and imperative guide 
in beHef and practice. The question of what is re- 
quired in baptism is very simple and easy in its last 
analysis, and can be readily settled when the heart is 
once set on inquiry. What did the Master himself do 
in his baptism in the Jordan? What did he appoint 
and command in baptism? The answer to these ques- 
tions points the way of loyalty and honor and service 
in his kingdom. And it is the only way for one who 
will walk in all the commandments and ordinances of 
the Lord, to do them. 

The Form Commanded by Name. 

I. Jesus commanded immersion when he commanded 
to baptise. John had previously received the form for 
his baptism, as it were a pattern from the Holy Mount, 
14 



2IO Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

when God sent him to baptize. We cannot have the 
original baptism unless we have the original form. 
That form is in the act itself, is indicated in its very 
name, and defined by the word — baptism. 

This word baptism comes to us from the Greek 
language in which the New Testament was written, 
and is of certain and definite meaning. It has been 
transferred, not translated, into English, lifted bodily 
out of the Greek and set down in the English. Its 
original meaning therefore must be retained, and can 
be learned only from the original word as used in the 
Greek. 

The Greek language is rich and precise in its use of 
words. It has four words, for example, to describe 
the four different actions of pouring, sprinkling, bath- 
ing, washing the hands — each a word with its own 
separate and definite meaning, meaning just that and 
nothing else. But neither of these words is ever used 
to indicate baptism. The ordinance is never called 
sprinkling, but always and everywhere is called bap- 
tism, which, like the other words, has also its own 
separate and definite meaning. Sprinkling is never 
called baptism, and baptism is never called sprinkling 
— as red is not called blue, and blue is not called red, 
walking is not called running, and running is not 
called walking. They are different names and mean 
different things. 

The oneness of form in baptism Is emphatic and be- 
yond question, demanded alike by common sense and 
Scripture. There is no such thing as "mode of bap- 



The Essential Form of Baptism, 211 

tism/' or "different modes of baptism," it is simply 
the one unvarying form of baptism. Which form? 
There is but one form, and there is but one baptism, 
just as there is one Lord and one faith and one God, 
the Father of all. This one unvarying form is in the 
name, and that name is baptism. We must know the 
meaning of baptism, and here is its definition. These 
authorities are trustworthy and impartial, and their 
definition is decisive in declaring the meaning of the 
word and the form of the ordinance. 



Robinson's Greek and English Lexicon of the New 
Testament: "Baptize; to immerse, to sink. Baptism; 
something Immersed. To be baptized in the Holy Spirit; 
to overwhelm, richly furnish with all spiritual gifts. To 
be baptized with calamities ; to overwhelm with sufferings. 
Baptized with baptism I am baptized with ; can ye endure 
to be overwhelmed with sufferings like those which I 
must endure?" 

Herman Cremer's Bihlico -Theological Lexicon of New 
Testament Greek: A special study of Greek words having 
a religious meaning, defines baptism to be, ''immerse, 
submerge. The peculiar New Testament and Christian 
use of the word; to denote immersion, submersion for a 
religious purpose." 

John Calvin in his Institutes says: "The very word 
baptize, however, signifies to immerse." 

Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament 
{Divinity School of Harvard University) : "Baptize : To 
dip repeatedly, to immerge, submerge (of vessels sunk). 
To cleanse by dipping or submerging, to wash, to make 
clean with water. In the New Testament an immersion 
in water. Baptism is immersion, submersion. Christian 
baptism, according to the view of the apostles, is a rite 
of sacred immersion, commanded by Christ." 

The International Critical and Exegetical Commentary 
on the Gospel of Mark {Gould, Episcopal) : "Baptism 
of repentance — into the Jordan. Rite of immersion in 



212 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

water. The preposition here coincides with the proper 
meaning of the verb, indicating that the form of the rite 
was immersion into the stream/' 

The same commentary on Luke {Alfred Plummer, 
Master of University College, Durham. Presbyterian) : 
"Baptize; I immerse. It is only when baptism is admin- 
istered by immersion that its full significance is seen." 

The word expresses the form and Is one with the 
form—baptism the word and baptism the ordinance. 
Its meaning is explicit and definite, and by these au- 
thorities is immerse and immersion. Other authorities 
could be added to these by many pages, but there is 
no need. For these are sufficient, and all the others 
speak the same thing in defining the words baptize and 
baptism. Indeed, no Greek Lexicon of standard repute 
gives any other meaning to these words. It is always 
immerse and immersion, or some such kindred term 
like dip, or plunge, or overwhelm, either in a literal 
or figurative sense. And the usage of the word, which 
is higher authority than even the Lexicon and is the 
basis of the Lexicon, confirms this definition. No one 
has yet found a single passage either in the New Tes- 
tament or other literature, in which the word baptize 
is used in any different sense. Never in one single 
instance, so far as the best scholarship has been able 
to determine, was the word used to mean pour or 
sprinkle.^ 

Indeed, no word in any language is easier, clearer, 

* Dr. T. J. Conant has collected in a volume (Baptisein) every pas- 
sage in Greek literature where the word baptize is used. He gives both 
the Greek_ and its English translation so the reader can test for himself 
the meaning of the word. In every passage the word requires for 
translation our English word immerse or some kindred word. 



The Essential Form of Baptism. 213 

or more definite in meaning than the words baptism and 
baptize in the Greek language. And this is true 
whether they are used in a literal or figurative sense, 
in an ordinary or sacred sense — as when a ship was 
baptized in the sea, or a sword was baptized in a man's 
body, or a believer was buried with Christ in baptism. 
This word having always the one meaning makes im- 
mersion the essential form of the ordinance. And 
without this form there is no baptism. It is equivalent 
to saying an immersion is essential to the immersion. 
The form, baptism, cannot be separated from the ordi- 
nance baptism, except in thought and for emphasis. 
Ordinance expresses authority and purpose, while its 
name (baptism) expresses the form of its observance. 
In commanding baptism Christ commanded the form, 
and in commanding the ordinance he commanded its 
observance. Spirit and form and purpose are of him, 
and are alike essential and binding with us. 

The New Testament Form. 

2. Immersion, the New Testament pattern, accords 
with the New Testament practice. There is here no 
change in the meaning of the word ; though like many 
other words in the transition from profane to sacred 
use, this word also is charged with new and loftier 
thought, and expresses definite act and purpose. Here 
the word (baptism) — a familiar household term of 
everyday use for ordinary purposes among Greek- 
speaking people — is called into new and noble service. 



214 Moral Dignity of Baptism, 

It becomes the uniform (the one-form) name of the 
ordinance baptism, one of the two ordinances in the 
Christian system., and defines the one permanent form 
of its administration. For in the New Testament the 
ordinance is not called by any other word; and this 
word is seldom used for other purposes, but sometimes 
in symbol, and then its original meaning is retained, as 
for example the baptism in the Holy Spirit, or Christ's 
being overwhelmed in the flood of his sufferings. 

It became a new word in a broad and exalted sense 
because of its new and distinguished use ; but retained 
without change its meaning among the people, and 
brought that meaning into its new service as defined 
in the Lexicons. That meaning is at once simple, 
exact, strong, and uniform — always and everywhere an 
immersion. This one word was chosen because of the 
fitness of its one meaning to represent everywhere the 
one baptism. Thenceforward baptism became the 
one name for the New Testament ordinance and im- 
mersion the one form for the New Testament practice. 

The word baptize was given dignity and a new rank 
among words when God made it the mark of John's 
mission and sent him to baptize; the word baptism 
became forever a badge of honor, when our Lord him- 
self received from the preacher in the wilderness his 
baptism in the Jordan and then made baptism the name 
of the new ordinance in his kingdom; the word bap- 
tizing came into a new place of distinction when our 
Lord made it express the commission and command 
for the disciples until he shall come again, ^^baptizing 



The Essential Form of Baptism, 21^ 

into the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Spirit." 

This is the sense, and the only sense, in which the 
word became a new word — new in its use, but not 
different in meaning. The new use put into the old 
meaning larger, richer, more definite significance. 
Christ had touched this one word, and forthwith it 
lived a new hfe. It was the one mould in which God 
cast the ordinance, and the one form upon which our 
Lord set the seal cl his authority. The ordinance 
cannot part from its name, baptism, and the name, 
baptism, cannot part from its meaning, immersion, 
but is now the immersion which God has commanded 
for a single, definite, exalted purpose. 

This is the form placed before us to be held fast 
and copied ; the model in conformity to which baptism 
must be administered; the example for our imitation; 
the pattern always followed by the apostles ; a form of 
wondrous beauty and charm if only there be present 
the power of godliness in spirit and purpose. This is 
a rite, but no "mere rite;" a form, but not a "mere 
form ;" a ceremony indeed, but of solemn and sublime 
import; an external in religion, but the expression of 
an inner meaning and beauty and power that may well 
attract the attention of the angels themselves. 

Immersion the Form Used. 

This New Testament form has a fine illustration in 
the account of Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch. They 



2i6 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

came together under the Spirit's direction ; and it was 
a supreme hour when the high official met the man of 
God, and heard from him the gracious message of 
salvation. With preacher and sinner and Holy Spirit 
in conjunction, something must come to pass — the 
preaching, the opening of the heart, the believing, the 
being saved, the stopping in the journey for obedience 
in the Lord's appointed rite. 

"As they went on their way, they came to a certain 
water; and the eunuch said, See, here is water; what 
doth hinder me to be baptized? And Philip said, If thou 
believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he an- 
swered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son . 
of God. 

*'And he commanded the chariot to stand still ; and 
they went down both into the water, both Philip and the 
eunuch ; and he baptized him. And when they were come 
up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away 
Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more; and he went 
on his way rejoicing.'' (Acts 8: 36-39-) 

Here we have in detail a fine type of New Testament 
baptism — a believer for its subject, immersion for its 
form, a public declaration of faith in his newly ac- 
cepted Lord as its design, and as result a rapturous 
joy of the heart in the sense of obedience. The Holy 
Spirit v/as present as he was present at the Jordan 
when the Saviour was immersed, just as really though 
not in visible manifestation. It was a wonderful ex- 
hibition of what baptism must be in subject, form, pur- 
pose, and spirit if conforming to the New Testament 
pattern and practice. The word (baptize) itself tells 
what was done when preacher and believer had gone 



The Essential Form of Baptism, 217 

down Into the water and he baptized him. This is the 
one word that everywhere marks and names the act. 
It always denotes the form of immersion; and those 
who receive baptism are said to be baptized — immersed 
after the example set for imitation and after the pattern 
which is before us to be copied. 

One Word for All Cases. 

This word defines the baptism of the three thousand 
who gladly received the word on the day of Pentecost ; 
it defines the baptism of Cornelius and those who be- 
heved with him; it defines the baptism of the eunuch 
and of Saul of Tarsus, of Lydia and the jailer with 
their believing households. Likewise in emblem and 
beautiful symbolic power it describes what is done 
when the believer is buried with Christ in baptism, 
wherein also he is risen with 'him ; or when buried with 
Christ by baptism into death, that like as Christ was 
raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, 
so he also should walk in newness of life. It is the 
same word that tells what God sent John to do, what 
John did when he baptized in the river, what Jesus 
received when baptized in the Jordan, what he com- 
manded his disciples to do, and what he commands us 
to do. 

And the very meaning of the word as shown from 
the Lexicons makes it certain and positive that in each 
and every case of New Testament baptism it was an 
immersion; and throughout there was uniform action 



2i8 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

and conformity to the pattern. And wherever in the 
New Testament the words baptize and baptism occur, 
you may substitute immerse or immersion, and the 
change will do no violence to the sense, and in many 
cases will make the meaning plainer and stronger. 
This cannot be done with the words pouring or sprink- 
ling, or with any other word except one of kindred 
meaning to immersion. This is a simple yet severe 
test which any one can try for himself in any passage 
he may choose. 

Pouring or sprinkling tells what is done with the 
water, immerse and immersion tell what is done with 
the person; you sprinkle water, you pour water, but 
you do not immerse water ; you immerse or baptize the 
person. John did not sprinkle the people in the river, 
he immersed or baptized them in the river ; Christ was 
not sprinkled in the Jordan, but he also was immersed 
or baptized in the water. It is not said that the be- 
liever is hitried with Christ by sprinkling, or risen with 
him again by sprinkHng; but in his immersion he is 
buried, and in his emersion he is raised up again. 
Neither sprinkling nor pouring has any symbol for 
either burial or resurrection. The Holy Spirit was not 
baptized (immersed), but to show the copiousness of 
his coming he was said to be ^'poured out," and then 
the disciples were baptized, immersed in him, in his 
influence which filled the chamber where they were 
assembled, overwhelmed in the fullness of his presence 
and power."^ 

* See page 128, concerning Baptism or the Spirit, 



The Essential Form of Baptism, 2ig 

So immersion as the form of the ordinance is the one 
pattern throughout the New Testament. It accords 
with all the teaching and all the practice. It is the 
one form whose meaning answers every requirement. 
Christ followed this pattern which John had received, 
and was himself immersed; his own baptism in the 
Jordan, crowned by the glory of the Spirit's presence 
and the approving word from the Father, set this pat- 
tern for all others and is for universal imitation. The 
disciples followed the example of their Master, and 
copied the pattern which he himself had given and 
which he commanded for all succeeding years. 

The Change from Baptism to Sprinkling. 

3. Men have changed the form which Christ com- 
manded. Sprinlding has been put in the place of im- 
mersion. This change from the New Testament pattern 
and practice is manifest, and has done serious violence 
to the cause of truth. Sprinkling as a religious cere- 
mony had many noble purposes in the symbolism of 
the Bible, but not as baptism. It passed away with 
Judaism. There is not a trace of it in the New Testa- 
ment, and nothing like it in the Christian system. New 
Testament baptism has its one form as indicated by 
its name, but is never called sprinkling ; and sprinkling 
is never called baptism. The two words in the original 
language are essentially and radically different in 
meaning and use — as much so indeed as the two Eng- 
lish words sprinkling and immersion. And the original 



220 Moral Dignify of Baptism. 

word for sprinkling is never applied to baptism either 
by the disciples or by Christ himself. 

Indeed, Christ never used the word sprinkle for 
any purpose. He commanded baptism, and did not 
command sprinkling. The two words cannot take the 
place of each other; they stand ever apart, each in its 
own sphere, having its own meaning and service. 
Sprinkling cannot be a "mode of baptism" as it cannot 
be a mode of immersion. Such a use of the word, and 
the use of such form in the ceremony, was a violent de- 
parture from the New Testament pattern and practice. 
It was a change from baptism to sprinkling. It re- 
quired centuries for this change to be made, and yet 
other centuries for it to get a permanent place. And 
since then sprinkling for baptism has brought serious 
and grievous divisions among the followers of Christ. 

This change to sprinkling can be traced to its origin ; 
and its cause and course in history are easily marked. 
In the early centuries there were frequent perversion 
and corruption of Christian doctrine. The first change 
concerning baptism was in its design with its form re- 
maining immersion ; and instead of the beautiful sym- 
bolic import of the ordinance, persons were baptized 
with the idea that baptism in some magical way pro- 
cured salvation and effected the new birth in the heart. 
Thus came the doctrine of ''baptismal regeneration" — 
preserving immersion as the form but changing the 
design of the ordinance, and so brought on one of the 
most fruitful and fearful breeders of evil the world 
has ever known, 



The Essential Form of Baptism, 221 

And then later, say after the middle of the third 
century, the form also was changed, first from immer- 
sion to pouring (a profuse pouring in imitation of 
immersion), and then much later from pouring to 
sprinkling for baptism. The object of the change was 
to have an easy "mode of baptism'' for emergency 
cases in extreme sickness, that none should die and be 
lost for lack of baptism. This opened a flood gate for 
evil in doctrine and practice ; and so by slow and griev- 
ous stages pouring and sprinkling worked their course 
down the centuries. Finally the practice of sprinkling 
along with "infant baptism," which meanwhile had 
also been introduced as a means of "infant salvation," 
became absolute in "The Church of Rome," which, in 
the exercise of its idea of Church authority, changed 
the ordinance from immersion to pouring and from 
pouring to sprinkling. And then many centuries later 
still, this new "mode of baptizing" became prevalent 
with all those people who had more or less historical 
connection with Roman Catholicism. 

And so sprinkling remains to this day. Even the 
great Luther, though coming out of Rome with a 
mighty wrench that shook all Europe, did not leave 
behind him either Rome's "infant baptism" or Rome's 
sprinkling for baptism. So with others who came out 
of her in the hope of making things better. Sprinkling 
for baptism, instead of the original form, remains be- 
cause Roman CathoHcism fastened it on the world as a 
means of salvation. It tells its own history and bears 
always the mark of its origin, 



222 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

Historical Statement and Contrast. 

In the preceding chapter a quotation is made from 
the article on Baptism, written by Dean Stanley and 
published some thirty years ago in the latter part of 
his life. His words were introduced there to show a 
reckless method in setting aside the law of Christ. 
They are repeated here to confirm the statement con- 
cerning the change of the form of the ordinance from 
immersion to sprinkling. He was himself an Episco- 
palian of the Church of England, and wrote as a his- 
torian emphasizing the fact of the change and its cause. 

In his account he says: Immersion was the original 
form — the form observed and commanded by Christ, the 
form enjoined and practiced by the apostles. But he 
continues, "There came a change in the form itself" — a 
change from immersion to sprinkling. "By the general 
sentiment of Christian liberty this great change was 
effected," because "the practice of immersion, apostolic 
and primitive as it was, was peculiarly unsuitable to the 
tastes and conveniences and feelings" of the Western 
public in the seventeenth century; "no one would now 
wish to go back to the old practice, though it had, no 
doubt, the sanction of the apostles and of their Master." 
The change from immersion to sprinkling "is a striking 
example of the triumph of common sense and convenience 
over the bondage of form and custom." 

By the Western public he means the Roman Catholic 
and Anglican churches in contrast with the Greek 
Church in the East which has always adhered to the 
original pattern, immersing even in case of ^'infant 
baptism'' and practicing trine immersion. The change 
was earlier than the seventeenth century, and its cause 
lay further back than the taste and convenience of 



The Essential Form of Baptism, 223 

any one people. To make a change on that ground 
would be bad enough, yet its true cause is infinitely 
worse. And according to the printed creeds and con- 
fessions of faith this idea of baptismal salvation has 
adhered to the practice of sprinkling more or less 
through all these years. 

Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary 
says: Romans 6 : 3, 4. "The apostle here alludes to the 
manner of administering the sacrament of baptism, which 
was then done by immersion or by plunging the person 
baptized under the water, in which he finds a resemblance 
of Christ's death and burial under ground, and of his 
resurrection to an immortal life." 

Matthew 3: 6. "Baptised. ^ The word baptism signifies 
a washing, particularly when it is done by immersion, or 
by dipping, or plunging a thing under water, which was 
formerly the ordinary way of administering the sacrament 
of baptism. 

"But the Church, which cannot change the least article 
of the Christian faith, is not so tied up in matters of 
discipline and ceremonies. Not only the Catholic Church, 
but also the pretended reformed churches, have altered 
this primitive custom in giving the sacrament of baptism, 
and novv^ allow of baptism by pouring or sprinkling water 
on the person baptized; nay, many of their ministers do 
it nowadays by Ullipping a wet finger and thumb over the 
child's head, or by shaking a wet finger or two over the 
child, which it is hard enough to call a baptizing in any 
sense." 

This Commentary is standard among Catholics, and 
has the endorsement by personal letters from Pope 
Pius IX. and by a large number of Cardinals and 
Archbishops. The Catholics are bold in asserting their 
right to change the ordinance, and manifestly are jeal- 
ous of having others practice what they themselves 
claim as their own. 



■224 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

That the ordinance was changed from baptism to 
sprinkHng, and was changed by Roman CathoHcs on 
their pretended right of church authority, is a common 
matter of history. And in making the change they 
contravened the command of Christ and destroyed the 
meaning of the ordinance so far as they or their fol- 
lowers are concerned. And sprinkling for baptism as 
we have it today is manifestly of the Romish Church 
in origin and purpose. It is a contribution which Rome 
has made to the world of its corrupted form of the 
ordinance. Shall we follow Christ, or shall we follow 
Rome ? Shall we take the sprinkling which the Roman 
Catholics have given to the world, or shall we be true 
to Christ in his commandments and to the New Testa- 
ment in its pattern and practice ? 

Design Dependent upon Right Form. 

4. We here pass from the meaning of the word to 
the meaning of the ordinance — from its name to its 
design — from the form of baptism to the symbolic im- 
port of baptism. As an ordinance of the Gospel bap-^ 
tism is a composite act, being a personal obedience to 
the command of our Lord, having a definite form and 
also a definite design which cannot be expressed apart 
from that form. The form is so essential to the mean- 
ing of the ordinance that a change of form takes away 
its sense and significance — its sign-making power. 
The meaning of the ordinance (baptism) like the 
meaning of the word (baptism) requires the form of 



The Essential Form of Baptism. 225 

immersion in its administration. And if the form of 
immersion be gone, then baptism itself with its syni- 
boHc import is destroyed and you have no baptism, 
even though the spirit and intention be retained in 
other sort of reHgious ceremony. 

The ordinance is composite, and must be held in its 
unity and integrity as to form and subject and design 
and spirit. A misunderstanding of the design brought 
the change from immersion to sprinkling, but the 
original design requires the original form. Baptism 
does not effect the new birth ; is not "in order to the 
remission of sins ;'^ is not ^^a condition of pardon,^' nor 
in any sense '^a means of salvation.'^ Its design and 
meaning are in its figure of being buried and rising 
again. Sprinkling has no such power of figure — ^no 
such significance or sign-making power. In no sense 
can it represent a burial or resurrection. 

"Sprinkling as a form of baptism" (i) is not like 
the baptism of Jesus, (2) does not commemorate in 
picture his burial and resurrection, (3) cannot show 
in emblem the believer's union with his Lord in those 
maighty events of tragedy and triumph; (4) nor does 
sprinkling show the believer's being dead to sin and 
buried, nor his risen life with Christ, (s) nor can 
sprinkling foretoken in form the final resurrection. 
Nothing but immersion can fill this high office or give 
this exceptional service. Design or purpose is more 
important than form, and yet is inseparable from its 
form. 

15 



226 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

Dr. William Sanday, an Episcopalian of the Church of 
England, counted by some as the foremost scholar of the 
day, in commenting on Romans 6 : 4, says of baptism : 
*'It expresses symbolically a series of acts corresponding 
to the redeeming acts of Christ: 

''Immersion = Death ; 

Submersion =Burial (the ratification of Death) ; 

Emergence = Resurrection/' 
And Dr. Plummer, Presbyterian, already quoted, says: 
"It is only when baptism is administered by immersion 
that its full significance is seen." 

This Is the view taken by the ablest expositors in 
all the years, and the view also which commends itself 
to the average reader of the word of God. Throughout 
these pages form and subject and spirit and purpose 
have been held inseparable, as essential to the complete- 
ness of the ordinance and as showing its wonderful 
beauty and moral grandeur. 

The form of a thing is often essential to the thing — 
is sometimes the thing itself. The silver dollar must 
have the form of a silver dollar ; the paper dollar must 
have the form of the paper dollar; and in each case 
must be stamped with the national stamp as giving it 
meaning and authority to serve in the money market. 
The wedding ring must have its form. Not every 
circle is a wedding ring, and yet you cannot have the 
wedding ring without the circle; and this, too, must 
be stamped with a something that gives it authority. 
Not every immersion is baptism, and yet you cannot 
have baptism without immersion. You may break or 
mar the form, but so far you have broken or marred or 



The Essential Form of Baptism. 22y 

lost the ordinance in all its glorious import as Christ 
gave it to us. 

What is it that makes the national ensign, except 
certain things set in certain form ? There are so many 
colors and a given material. But these do not make a 
flag — they must be put into form, definite, specific 
form. Color is color whether in the shop or on can- 
vas, whether in the flower or the rainbow. But make 
the combination into form with red and white stripes 
alternating, with stars on the blue field, and then you 
have the national flag. It is form that makes the stars 
and stripes, and into that form go the nation's life 
and authority and honor. Baptism is the ensign in the 
kingdom of God, the emblem of what grace has done 
and will yet do. But its very emblematic power is in 
its form ; its power of utterance is in its form ; its very 
self is In its form — form that expresses wonderful 
meaning and has in it the authority of high heaven. 

Baptism as immersion with its corresponding emer- 
sion alone fits the pattern our Lord gave us at the 
Jordan ; immersion alone can serve in figure as a mon- 
ument of the burial and resurrection of Jesus ; immer- 
sion alone can give the answer of a good conscience 
toward God, showing in figure the resurrection of 
Christ by which we are saved ; only immersion as bap- 
tism sets out in emblem our union with Christ in his 
redemptive work ; only this baptism tells of our death 
to sin, of our new risen life, and of our hope for the 
final triumph over death. Immersion is full of death. 



228 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

but emersion is full of life and promise and hope and 
joy. 

No other form of baptism can tell these wonderful 
things; and with this form removed the ordinance is 
without meaning. Indeed, those who practice sprink- 
ling are accustomed to speak of baptism as a ''mere 
rite ;'' a '^mere form/' or a ''mere ceremony.'' And so 
it is to them ; and no wonder they think so, since they 
have abandoned the form in which the ordinance holds 
its symbolic sense and beauty and crowning glory. 

Individual Obligation in Baptism. 

5. Keeping the ordinance requires obedience to its 
form. The ordinance is given in trust to the churches 
— to each separate local body of believers. This is 
church obligation and church responsibility. But in 
addition, there is individual obligation in baptism with 
every one who names the name of Christ. It is an ob- 
ligation first for his own personal baptism, and second 
for faithful guardianship in preserving the pattern and 
practice commanded by our Lord. When the believer 
himself has been buried with Christ in baptism he has 
yet other high and pressing obligations concerning the 
ordinance. And every obligation to the ordinance is 
an obligation also to its form. One cannot have bap- 
tism (immersion as a great emblem and figure) unless 
he be baptized (immersed) as his Lord commanded. 
Obedience requires both letter and spirit, both form 
and purpose. And throughout the Bible, in both the 



The Essential Form of Baptism, 22g 

Old Testament and the New, God puts great stress on 
the importance of keeping his commandments. 

"And Saul said: I have performed the commandments 
of the Lord. 

"And Samuel said : What meaneth then this bleating 
of the sheep in mine ears and the lowing of the oxen 
which I hear? 

"And Saul said: The people spared the best of the 
sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the Lord thy God. 

"And Samuel said: Hath the Lord as great delight in 
burnt offering and sacrifices as in obeying the voice of 
the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and 
to hearken than the fat of rams." (i Samuel 15: 13-22.) 

This is a great principle and applies to baptism as 
to any other of the Lord's commandments. Surely he 
has no pleasure in your shifting responsibility, or in 
your substituting one thing for another, or in your 
setting aside his commandments, or in your serving 
God in one form when his comm_andment names an- 
other. 'To obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken 
than the fat of rams'' — everyvv^here, and concerning all 
his commandments. Individual obligation in baptism 
is very urgent ; and is made more urgent by the divided 
judgment and practice among the followers of our 
Lord — the one part for immersion and the other part 
for sprinkling. 

As to the great denominations who practice sprink- 
ling, all of them admit immersion as a form of baptism ; 
all of them more or less will immerse the believer upon 
his request ; some of them are placing the baptistery in 
their churches for imm.ersion; all of them will receive 
into their membership persons who have been im- 



230 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

mersed — the form of immersion passing everywhere 
hke gold coin in the markets of the world. This is a 
great concession in favor of immersion. But mean- 
while, what becomes of the one baptism which Christ 
commanded, and the unity of form and spirit and pur- 
pose which must be maintained? This division only 
serves to emphasize the question with the individual 
believer, and he cannot delegate its settlement to an- 
other. He is responsible for his own obedience in 
baptism. 

Scholarship, in its several ways of expressing itself, 
testifies (i) that the word (baptize) means immerse, 
(2) that Christ was immersed, (3) that the apostles 
and early disciples practiced immersion, (4) that im- 
mersion was almost the universal practice for thirteen 
hundred years, (5) that the. form was changed from 
immersion first to pouring, then to sprinkling, (6) that 
immersion alone agrees with New Testament pattern 
and practice and is necessary to the figure of burial and 
rising again to new life. 



Indifferent But Responsible. 

All this as the result of the most recent scholarship 
is in easy reach of any one wishing to inquire for him- 
self. And what is better and even more important, 
the individual believer has his own New Testament 
and can read and easily understand for himself. The 
responsibility is with him, and he must answer for his 



The Essential Form of Baptism. 231 

own baptism and for the right keeping of the ordi- 
nance. A few cases for illustration : 

I remember a worthy Presbyterian man who listened 
earnestly to a sermon urging baptism as immersion, and 
then remarked : *'Why, I believe all that, every word of 
it, but it makes no difference; one way is as good as 
another." 

I remember a young minister of exceflent spirit and 
standing among his people, v/hen asked some question 
about baptism, answered : "O well, I have given no 
thought to the subject, and really it makes no difference; 
I am Presbyterian because my father was, and I was 
sprinkled in infancy." 

Only recently I heard a young woman of intelligence 
and excellent spirit^ say: "I am a Methodist, and was 
sprinkled when an infant, so they tell me, but I do not 
believe in sprinkHng, and especially do not believe in 
sprinkling infants." By her own decision she had not 
been baptized, and was willing to remain as she was. 

Two excellent and highly cultured women, one a Pres- 
byterian and the other an Episcopalian, heard as a sermon 
the second chapter in this volume, and were enthusiastic 
in commending its spirit, and gave their unqualified 
endorsement to baptism as there presented. They were 
^'certain" in their judgment that Jesus was immersed and 
that baptism meant burial with him and a resurrection 
with him. And yet they both had been sprinkled In 
infancy, knowing nothing of their own baptism, and by 
their own judgment had never followed Christ in bap- 
tism. It never occurred to them that it was a question 
of individual responsibility. 

These are typical cases. It is no uncommon thing 
to find persons who insist on immersion for them- 
selves as the thing Christ did and commanded, and as 
the answer of a good conscience toward God, and then 
remain in fellowship with those who sprinkle for bap- 
tism, and "baptize infants." And there are still pthers, 
who have themselves been immersed and do not be- 



2^2 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

lieve in either sprinkling or ^'infant baptism/' but are 
willing to go into membership, and to give their sup- 
port and influence in behalf of the very things they 
have discarded. This does not seem a healthy condi- 
tion of belief and conviction, is not loyal to the com- 
mandments of our Lord — the persons themselves being 
judge as to what those commandments are. If a man 
believes Christ commanded sprinkling, he should not 
by any means support baptism; if he believes Christ 
commanded baptism, then he should not support sprink- 
ling. In making comparison of his baptism in order 
to decide his duty the believer can have only one stand- 
ard — namely, the New Testament pattern and practice. 
He cannot afford to be indifferent about a matter which 
involves so much. 

When a person comes, as every thoughtful believer 
must come, to the place where the ways part, one lead- 
ing to immersion, the other to sprinkling, what is his 
individual duty? If he believes in one, he cannot fol- 
low the other and lend his influence and support to 
what he does not believe. Such a course would make 
him false in this high and sacred service. He must 
decide; and must decide for Christ and truth, and with 
true and courageous conviction. 

The Place of Divergence. 

At this point Christ meets him, leads off in the way 
of immersion, saying, "Follow me;" at this point of 
divergence the apostles meet him, and, setting him 



The Essential Form of Baptism. 233 

toward immersion, say, "This is the way we have 
gone;" here also the very meaning of the ordinance, 
Hke a sign-board with index finger, points to immer- 
sion, saying : "Herein the believer is buried with Christ, 
and herein also he is risen with him/' Happy the be- 
liever, who heeding this threefold call of duty sets 
his face along the way they indicate, and follows on 
until coming to immersion, he says out of a joyous 
heart, "See, here is water; what doth hinder me to be 
baptized?'' That is the question of an earnest, loyal 
heart. What an honor to follow where our Lord has 
led, and to obey in the ordinance he has committed to 
us! Baptism is the believer's right. Here he stands 
where his Master stood. The pattern of the Jordan is 
before him, the glory of the Master's presence is upon 
him. 

O! my reader, it will be a commanding moment in 
your life, separating the old and the new ; will put you 
in alignment with the ages, and with Christ who went 
before the ages; and will give you an outlook of in- 
spiration and splendor, when you are baptized into 
the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the 
Holy Spirit — buried with Christ in baptism, wherein 
also you are raised up v/ith him to walk in newness of 
life. The words spoken at the Jordan are still words 
of power : "Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh 
us to fulfill all righteousness." And where he leads 
the way it is imperative on us to follov/. No man 
should stand between us and our baptism. We must 
go as our Lord went. 



234 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 



AT THE POOL FOR BAPTISM. 

"Thou hast said, exalted Jesus, 
'Take thy cross and follow me;' 
Shall the word with terror seize us? 
Shall we from the burden flee? 
Lord, ril take it, 
Lord, I'll take it. 
And rejoicing follow Thee. 

"While this liquid tomb surveying, 
Emblem of my Saviour's grave, 
Shall I shun its brink, betraying 
Feelings worthy of a slave? 
No, ni enter: 
No, ril enter: 
Jesus entered Jordan's wave. 

"Blest the sign which thus reminds me. 
Saviour, of Thy love for me ; 
But more blest the love that binds me 
In its deathless bonds to Thee : 
Oh, what pleasure, 
Oh, what pleasure, 
Buried with my Lord to be! 

"Should it rend some fond connection, 
Should I suffer shame or loss, 
Yet the fragrant, blest reflection, 
I have been where Jesus was, 
Will revive me. 
Will revive me. 
When I faint beneath the cross. 

"Fellowship with Him possessing. 
Let me die to earth and sin; 
Let rne rise t' enjoy the blessing 
Which the faithful soul shall win: 
May I ever. 
May I ever. 
Follow where my Lord has been.'' 



CHAPTER XIII. 

FORETOKEN OF FINAL RESURRECTION. 

"We were buried therefore with him through baptism 
into death; that Hke as Christ was raised from the dead 
through the glory of the Father, so we also might walk 
in newness of hfe. For if we have become united with 
him in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the 
likeness of his resurrection.'' (Rom.. 6: 4, 5.) 

*'But if we died with Christ, we believe that we shall 
also live with him; knowing that Christ, being raised 
from the dead, dieth no more; death no more hath 
dominion over him. Even so reckon ye also yourselves 
to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus." 
(Rom. 6: 8, 9, 11.) 

''Who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, 
that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, accord- 
ing to the working whereby he is able even to subject all 
things unto himself.'' (Phil. 3: 21.) 

CHRIST'S baptism — our baptism; his death and 
burial — our death and burial; his resurrection 
from the grave — our resurrection from the 
grave ; his resurrection-life, freed from the dominion of 
death — our resurrection-life, freed from the dominion 
of death and sin and with him at the right hand of the 
Majesty on high. This combination of words, and 
thoughts, and events, and future prospects, com.pre- 
hends the whole scheme of grace, from the beginning 
of the public life of our Lord, until its com.pleteness 
in the redemption of our body and the coronation of 
the saved in the presence of the King. 

(235) 



^36 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

Christ's baptism in the Jordan, full of august 
splendor as it was, had yet a fearful looking for of 
overwhelming sufferings in death and burial, but also 
had the promise of resurrection and of triumph over 
death. There was manifest connection between the 
baptism in the Jordan and the baptism that came at 
the last, both as events and experiences with our Lord. 
With that first baptism still fresh in memory, and with 
his heart set to finish his great mission, he said, "I 
have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I 
straitened imtil it be accomplished,'' indicating what 
he must undergo at Jerusalem when defeat and death 
and burial should be followed by deliverance and tri- 
umph in his resurrection. So that his baptism, fore-^ 
shadowing the depths of his humiliation, had in it 
nevertheless the promise of a crown. 

His baptism went before our baptism ; his resurrec- 
tion went before our resurrection. And his baptism in 
the Jordan was the pattern and counterpart of our 
baptism ; his resurrection from the grave on that third 
morning was the pattern and promise and pledge and 
potency of our resurrection on that great morning 
v/hen the dead shall hear his voice and come forth. 

Baptized in the likeness of his baptism in the Jordan 
and as shown in our baptism, we are also united with 
him in the likeness of his death and shall be in the 
likeness of his resurrection. So our baptism, repre- 
senting in symbol our new life risen in him, is also a 
foretoken of the final resurrection. What means this^' 
opening of the water, grave-hke, as the believer is laid 



Foretoken of Final Resurrection, 237 

beneath the yielding waves to be covered from sight? 
What means this thrusting apart again of the water, 
and the raising of the beUever ? One is burial, the other 
is resurrection. How beautiful and glorious this act 
becomes in its meaning and significance ! And wher- 
ever baptism is administered there you have a bold 
declaration of faith in the promise and power of Jesus, 
in what he has said concerning that last day. Almost 
the simplest ordinance in all the world becomes tre- 
mendous in its symbolic import, and shines in the honor 
and glory of that coming event when the dead shall 
live again — when the work of death shall be undone, 
and death itself shall die, and there shall be no more 
death. Baptism foretells the coming trium.ph, and we 
rejoice in the song which it sings in the face of present 
defeat. 

The Engagement Ring. 

Coming events cast their shadows before. Engage- 
ment ring and marriage ring — one is pledge and fore- 
token, the other is consummation. The Church is the 
bride, and the marriage supper of the Lam^b is one of 
the great dates set for the future. Then the bride- 
groom will come to claim his own, to fulfill his promise 
and redeem his pledge. 

The resurrection in fact as the consummation is the 
wedding ring ; but meanwhile the Church as the future 
bride, the Lamb's wife, has the engagement ring — 
baptism, the resurrection in figure. She wears it as 
part of her adornment, and holds it sacred as a gift 



238 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

from the bridegroom, pledge of his return and fore- 
token of the glorious occasion yet to be. What a 
beautiful jewel it is — this baptism, this resurrection in 
figure, patterned after the one he wore himself, and 
foretoken of the sublimest moment in the destiny of 
man! It is a matter of momentous concern that the 
bridegroom, when he comes, shall find the ring un- 
broken, unmarred, untarnished, and worn by a bride 
worthy of the Lord and adorned for his coming. 

The symbol is confirmed by the spoken promise. 
The prophecy in water is made more sure by the 
prophecy of the living word. 

"Behold, I tell you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, 
but we shall all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling 
of an eye, at the last trump ; for the trumpet shall sound, 
and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall 
be changed." (i Cor. 15: 51, 52.) 

"Marvel not at this, for the hour cometh in which all 
that are in the tombs shall hear his voice, and shall come 
forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection 
of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrec- 
tion of judgment.'* (John 5: 28, 29.) 

"Then we that are alive, and remain, shall together with 
them be caught up in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the 
air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord." (i Thess. 

4: 17.) 

"Thanks be to God who giveth us the victory through 
our Lord Jesus Christ." (i Cor. 15: 57). 

These Scriptures stand us face to face with the res- 
urrection of the dead. They speak with authority, and 
in no uncertain sound. You can contemplate the resur- 
rection either as a doctrine in the Christian system or 
as the most stupendous event yet future in the history 
of the world. It is one of the wonder scenes in the 



Foretoken of Final Resurrection. 239 

closing times — the coming of the Lord, the resurrection 
of the dead, the judgment day with the great white 
throne and its universal judgment, the final assignment 
of the saved and the lost, each to his place and portion 
and inheritance. 

These are matters of faith, believed and foreseen as 
things certain to be. The resurrection, whether as a 
glorious doctrine or as an event yet to occur, is sub- 
mitted to our faith. It is not contrary to reason, if 
reason be rightly informed and sufficiently supported. 
Not to believe the word of God concerning these tre- 
mendous issues, leaves the mind an utter blank as to 
the future, and leaves the future itself in unutterable 
darkness regarding the destiny of man. If there is 
no future life, man will never know it. For if he 
dies as the beast dies, he will of course have no con- 
sciousness, no life, no knowledge beyond the death 
chamber and the death hour. On the other hand, faith, 
laying hold on things yet far off and well supported by 
things now present, has a glorious future, filling the 
present life with hope and joy and untold comfort. 

The Sure Foundation. 

History even is often incredible until facts become 
known and compel belief. But prophecy is more diffi- 
cult of belief; because its events are yet future and 
unknown. Belief in prophecy has its sure foundation 
in our belief in God, and in our confidence in his 
promise and power and faithfulness and veracity. 



240 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

When Marconi announced that he had succeeded in 
sending a message without wire, the world laughed 
outright, and would not believe it possible, although 
with him it had become a matter of history. Now the 
wireless message is becoming the ordinary thing, and 
is seen to be easy enough, and even a necessary result, 
if only the forces of nature are brought into certain 
conditions and proper relations to each other. Nearly 
every other great discovery and Invention has had 
something of the same experience. Things that seem 
utterly impossible, all at once become easy, and as the 
sphere of our knowledge enlarges are seen as the 
necessary working of great laws and forces which God 
has stored away in the physical domain. 

Nature is full of wonders that serve as fine illustra- 
tions of what God is doing in the kingdom of his 
grace. The solar spectrum illustrates the incarnation 
— the one revealing the nature and beauty of the sun- 
light, the other revealing the glory of God in the face 
of Jesus Christ; the marvelous transmission of Hght 
Illustrates the shedding abroad in our hearts the love 
of God by the Holy Spirit; the telegraph, telephone, 
and wireless message as so many methods of communi- 
cation at long distance, and regardless of intervening 
obstacles, illustrate the marvels of prayer as the com- 
munication of the human soul with God by means as 
yet not understood by us ; the resurrection of the body 
has ample and Instructive illustration in the reproduc- 
tive power of nature — that marvelous. Inscrutable 
power of the seed to come back again after Its death 



Foretoken of Final Resurrection, 241 

and decay in the earth, to come back again in its old 
self, made over again in fresh beauty, but preserving 
what we may call its personality and identity — rye re- 
turning as rye, wheat as wheat, the flower as still the 
flower fresh and fragrant in its new life. "God," work- 
ing in nature as in grace, "giveth it a body as it hath 
pleased him, and to every seed its own body/' 

Wonders in nature should prepare us for wonders in 
the Bible, and should make it easy to believe — at least 
easier to accept the revelations which God has made 
in his Word, not credulously, but in simple, child-like 
faith, because God is at work everywhere, and is 
everywhere the same« God has spoken, and his word 
standeth sure. 

Immortality and Resurrection. 

Immortality and resurrection — these are different 
terms and stand for different things. The one relates 
to man's spirit, the other to his body. Immortality of 
mind — future existence of soul beyond death, is funda- 
mental and is of almost universal belief. The nations 
of antiquity, even the Greeks and Romans, knew noth- 
ing of the resurrection of the body. Indeed, when 
brought to their attention it awakened not only un- 
belief, but ridicule and contempt. And yet their earnest 
and joyous belief in a future life is everywhere mani- 
fest in their history and philosophy and painting and 
sculpture. There is a wide and fundamental difference 
between resurrection and immortality, and yet it is 

16 



242 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

largely a difference in sweep of thought and com- 
pleteness of destiny. 

Christ brought life and immortality to light in the 
Gospel — everlasting life. Immortality is inherent, is of 
man's nature. He is born not to die — or if he die, to 
live again in another and larger life. As man has mind 
by nature and education by acquirement, so man has 
immortality by birth and shall live again whether he 
will or no; but he obtains everlasting life through 
faith in Jesus Christ. He that soweth to the Spirit 
shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting — a product that 
comes as a harvest, from his believing in Christ and 
through the working of the Holy Spirit in his heart. 
The unbeliever has immortality and shall live again, 
but the believer has everlasting life and has his home 
with God at his right hand for evermore. "The dust 
returneth to the earth as it was, but the spirit returneth 
unto God who gave it." 

But that is not the end of the body. It has a destiny 
beyond burial and the grave, and in spite of death and 
decay. That destiny is written large, and written in 
one solitary word, resurrection — a word not found out- 
side the Bible except in literature which the Bible has 
created in doctrine and spirit. In support of this tre- 
mendous doctrine we are dependent wholly upon the 
word of God. There is no other voice but this, and if 
the Scriptures fail us, there is no hope beyond the 
grave. But they do not fail us ; they speak with clear- 
ness and certainty and positive assurance, concerning 
the dead who have gone down to their graves. The 



Foretoken of Final Resurrection, 243 

Bible deals with man in his completeness and crowns 
the whole man, soul and body, with honor and glory. 
And the redeeming work of Christ, by his own means 
and methods and promises, brings complete "adoption, 
to wit: the redemption of our body'' (Rom. 8: 23.) 
Will the wicked and the righteous share alike in that 
mighty moment when the trumpet of God shall sound? 

The Resurrection of the Ungodly. 

The fact of a universal resurrection of the dead is 
stated broadly in both Testaments, with greater clear- 
ness and force, however, in the New. In each there is 
reference to the resurrection of the wicked — enough 
surely to make it certain and terrible. They shall come 
forth ''to shame and everlasting contempt," says the 
prophet Daniel (12: 2). Paul speaks of "the resur- 
rection of the just and of the unjust.'^ And our Lord 
himself says they that have done evil shall come forth 
from their graves "unto the resurrection of judgment.'' 

I leave this awful aspect of the subject where the 
Bible leaves it — not desiring to say more and fearing 
to say less. The destiny of the ungodly, whether of 
soul or body, is unspeakably terrible as seen in the 
word of God. 

Sowing the seed of a lingering pain, 
Sowing the seed of a maddening brain, 
Sowing the seed of a tarnished name, 
Sowing the seed of eternal shame. 
Oh, what shall the harvest be? 



244 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

But the present purpose leads us to consider ex- 
clusively the resurrection of the saints — those who 
have believed in Christ as their Saviour, who have 
fallen asleep in him, who have died in the Lord. Con- 
cerning these and their resurrection the words of 
Scripture are as a sheen of glory on the sacred pages 
of inspiration. 

"But how are the dead raised up, and with what 
body do they come ?" This is a heart question, and is 
legitimate. Only it must not be asked in the spirit of 
the man whom Paul rebuked as a fool ; nor in the spirit 
and purpose of those Sadducees who came to Jesus 
and thought to entrap him. 

They thought their case not only a real difficulty, 
but an unanswerable objection to the whole question 
of a future life. It was the case of a woman who had 
been seven times married and who would be confronted 
in the future life with seven legal husbands. 

Christ rebuked them, and in his answer laid down a 
far-reaching principle which answers all difficulties 
and all objections to the resurrection of the dead: ''Ye 
do err, not knowing the Scriptures or the power of 
God." The objection, formidable as it seemed, was 
based upon their misconception of the whole matter. 
They committed two blunders, erred in two directions ; 
in not understanding the Scriptures and in not recog- 
nizing God's power to raise the dead in whatsoever 
manner he may elect. Why should it be thought a 
thing incredible with us that God should raise the dead, 
or that then God should give a body as it hath pleased 



Foretoken of Final Resurrection. 245 

him, and to every one his own body — as occurs under 
our eyes in nature almost every day? 



The Present and Future Body. 

The resurrection body, says Origen, shall be ''this body 
indeed, but not such as it was/' 

Van Oosterzee : "The restored body must in its very 
essence, in the deepest kernel of its being, be even the 
same as this present; it is at the same time furnished 
with wholly different properties/' 

The present body becomes the future body, the new 
body issuing from the old under the purpose and prom- 
ise and power of God. And everywhere throughout 
the Scriptures, directly and indirectly, this present body 
is counted the subject upon which the mighty power 
operates and in which the glorious change takes place. 

The expressions, "from the dead" and "from the 
tomb," Hkewise the words, resurrection, to rise, raising, 
was raised, is risen, as also their Greek equivalents, 
cannot possibly refer in this connection to anything 
but the present body. These words were used first as 
the promise and then as the description of what oc- 
curred with Lazarus and with Christ v/hen they were 
raised from the dead. And they are also used to tell 
what shall come to pass when the dead are raised up. 
They apply to the body — tell what shall be done with 
the body. Its destiny is death and burial and resur- 
rection. From the body that now is will come forth 
the body that shall be. 

Sleep is a frequent figure of death. But it describes 



246 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

* 
the effect of death in the body. Its main feature is 

unconsciousness, but there is no unconsciousness of 
soul or spirit. In death the body sleeps, the body be- 
comes unconscious, and in the resurrection the body is 
awakened and raised up. 

Some teach that the resurrection body itself is en- 
tirely new, ethereal in nature, created of God with no 
reference to the old body, and prepared for the soul's 
habitation immediately upon its entrance into the spirit 
world. But such a body can in no sense be a resurrec- 
tion body, and the idea is contrary to the word of 
God that everywhere contemplates the present body 
as the resurrection subject. Those who are alive and 
remain when Christ comes, shall experience a change 
unsurpassed by what takes place in raising the dead. 
But that change will take place in their bodies. The 
living will not be caught up unchanged, nor simply in 
their spirits disembodied while their bodies lie as car- 
casses on the earth. The dead and living have equal 
advantage in the future body and conditions. The 
dead are raised — theirs is a resurrection; the living 
are changed — theirs is a transfiguration and transla- 
tion. With both living and dead, as with Enoch who 
walked with God and was not, for God took him, and 
with Elijah who was carried into heaven in a chariot 
of fire without tasting death, and with Christ who after 
death on the cross was buried and then raised from the 
tomb by the power of God — the body will be the sub- 
ject of the change, and will become the new body, pass- 
ing into the glorified condition and the glorified estate. 



Foretoken of Final Resurrection, 247 

The Statement of Scripture. 

"We that are alive, that are left unto the coming of the 
Lord, shall in no wise precede them that are fallen asleep." 
(i Thess. 4: 15.) 

"We all shall not sleep, but we shall all be changed. 
.... The dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we 
shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on in- 
corruption, and this mortal must put on immortality." 
(I Cor. 15: 5I-53-) 

"It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption ; 
it is sown in dishonor ; it is raised in glory ; it is sown in 
weakness; it is raised in power; it is sown a natural 
body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural 
body, there is also a spiritual body.'' (i Cor. 15: 42-44.) 

"As we have borne the image of the earthy, we shall 
also bear the image of the heavenly." "We know that, if he 
shall be manifested, we shall be like him; for we shall 
see him as he is." "Shall fashion anew the body of our 
humiliation, that it may be conformed to the body of his 
glory." (i Cor. 15: 49; i John 3: 2; Phil. 3: 21.) 

"Even we ourselves groan within ourselves waiting for 
our adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body." (Rom. 
8:23.) 

"When this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, 
and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall 
come to pass the saying that is written, Death is swal- 
lowed up in victory." (i Cor. 15: 54.) 

The present body is manifestly the subject of all this 
wonderful change, and in its new condition will be the 
resurrection body. The model after which it is fash- 
ioned is the glorified body of our risen Lord. We bear 
now the image of the earthy, we shall then bear the 
image of the heavenly — now like Adam, then like 
Christ, with the spiritual body fashioned like unto the 
body of his glory. This mortal body is buried; and 
this mortal body is touched by the resurrection power, 
is given life, is raised up from the dead, comes from 



248 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

the tomb, is clothed with immortality. The language 
of Scripture cannot be misunderstood, and tells in a 
wonderful way what that new body shall be. 

The doctrine of a bodily resurrection must be ac- 
cepted or the whole Scripture must be reconstructed 
and rewritten. It speaks more plainly on no subject. 
He who raised up Jesus from the dead, will raise us up 
also by Jesus. Our present bodies, whether we live or 
die, shall undergo a complete change. In some way, 
unrevealed as yet, the body of our humiliation shall be 
formed anew. And by this metamorphosis there shall 
come forth out of the old body, and in its stead, a new 
body, which standing in the glory of that new morning 
shall be the resurrection body of the saint. 

When we think, therefore, of the resurrection as 
pertaining to these bodies, and of their rising from the 
graves in which they were buried and saw corruption, 
we must think also of the marvelous change to be 
wrought upon them and in them. They are the same, 
yet fundamentally and essentially new, made to con- 
form unto the glorified body of Christ. 

We are greatly in the dark as to the nature of this 
new body- — as to its form and essence and properties. 
Yet by the word of God we know some of its char- 
acteristics. If we knew more of the glorified body of 
Christ, we could determine more concerning those who 
are his and who will be like him. We know that he 
rose from the dead — ^was seen, and handled, and recog- 
nized on the earth — was seen to ascend into heaven — 
was seen by Saul of Tarsus in a splendor above the 



Foretoken of Final Resurrection. 249 

brightness of the midday sun — was seen by Stephen 
standing at the right hand of God — was seen also by 
John walking among the golden candlesticks in a vision 
of awful and overpowering splendor, and yet the same 
person who walked the hills of Galilee and that was 
dead, but alive now and for evermore. We know, more- 
over, that we shall be like him, and that the new body 
shall be incorruptible and immortal — a spiritual body 
and ineflfably glorious — that in all this marvelous 
change there shall be no loss of identity — that remain- 
ing yet ourselves we shall be made fit to sit with him 
at the right hand of the Majesty on high. He is the 
bright and morning star, and his resurrection was the 
dawn of that glorious resurrection day. And in that 
glad morning Jesus will still be Jesus, John will be 
John, Martha will be Martha, Mary will be Mary, you 
will be you — each in his own glad, joyous self made 
like unto the Son of God. "The sufferings of this 
present time are not worthy to be compared with the 
glory that shall be revealed in us." 



The Resurrection Power. 

With ample power operating under promise and 
purpose, even these things are not only possible, but 
easy and inevitable. 

'This is the will of my Father, that every one that 
beholdeth the Son, and believeth on him, should have 
eternal life : and I will raise him up at the last day. No 
man can come to me, except the Father that sent me 



^50 Moral Dignity of Baptism, 

draw him; and I will raise him up in the last day." 
(John 6: 40-44-) 

*'The Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a 
shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump 
of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we 
which are alive and remain shall be caught up together 
with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air : and 
so shall we ever be with the Lord." (i Thess. 4: 16, 17.) 

"Who shall fashion anew the body of our humiliation, 
that it may be conformed to the body of his glory, accord- 
ing to the working whereby he is able even to subject all 
things unto himself." (Phil. 3: 21.) 

Jesus has set the time of the resurrection. It is not 
yet; it is still future, and is set for ''the last day/' 
Jesus will raise the believer from the dead, but not 
until the *1ast day." This is important as shov^ing 
that whatever is done for the spirit at the time of death 
cannot be therefore the resurrection of the body. It is 
stated frequently and with great emphasis that the time 
is coming and at ''the last day;'' and in ''that day" the 
mighty work will be done. 

Christ himself is the resurrection power and guar- 
antee: "I am the resurrection and the life," "I will 
raise him up." These are mighty words, and are 
stamped with authority. The great question resolves 
itself back into a question of his power and his verac- 
ity. He himself will descend with a shout, and the 
dead in him shall rise, "according to the working 
whereby he is able to subject all things unto himself." 
We know not how this will be, but verily there is 
ample scope and ample power. 

When you have seen the seed which you have 
planted coming back to you again in the beautiful 



Foretoken of Final Resurrection, 251 

flower in the garden, why wonder that God has prom- 
ised and put his everlasting power into his promise to 
raise the dead, each one in a body distinctively his own, 
and yet infinitely glorious. It is planted in corruption 
and shall be raised in incorruption and power and 
honor and glory; planted in the likeness of Christ's 
death and raised in the likeness of his resurrection. 

Some years ago there was in East River at New 
York an immense reef partially hidden beneath the 
water and doing such fearful wreckage to ships as to 
get for itself the name of Hell-Gate. In answer to the 
demand of commerce its removal was undertaken. It 
was compassed about in part with a great cofferdam, 
and the water pumped out until the rock lay bare in the 
blaze of the sun. It was then honeycombed with drills, 
and heavily charged with mighty explosives, and con- 
nected by means of wire with an electric battery on the 
shore. Then the water was let in and came rushing 
on, first covering the rock in its surging, and then 
flowed on, and all was quiet — no sign anywhere of 
what was impending and surely coming, as when a 
grave is filled and you turn away in your sorrow and 
leave your dead there to await the trump of God. 

The contractor calling his little girl to his side bade 
her touch with her tiny hand the key of the battery — 
then there came the sound as of thunder, and Hell- 
Gate was no more. Why stand in doubt of God who 
holds in his hands and at his bidding the mighty forces 
and powers of the universe? Why shorten his arm 
that he cannot save? Why abridge his power? Why 



252 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

should it be thought a thing incredible with you that 
God should raise the dead ? His power will make them 
live again ; his power will conform them unto the like- 
ness of his Son; his power is set for that last day; 
his power holds as a sacred treasure the dust of the 
sleeping saints ; his power once centered and operative 
here and the dead will live again. "God hath both 
raised up the Lord, and will raise us up by his own 
power/' 

We know not what forces are yet stored away in 
the recesses of God's universe that may come at any 
time in answer to his call, and touch the vital spot, and 
work the wonder of the resurrection of the dead. We 
know not what is meant by the terms — the shout, the 
voice of the archangel, the trump of God — they are 
all symbols of power, and will turn the army of the 
dead into a mighty living host. 

Abraham, when confronted by seeming impossibihty, 
^looking upon the promises of God, he wavered not 
through unbeHef, but waxed strong through faith, giving 
glory to God, and being fully assured that what he had 
promised, he was able also to perform." (Rom. 4: 20, 21.) 

"Philosophical speculation has gone through heaven 
and told us there is no gold there; and through hell 
and told us there is no fire there ; and through Christ 
and told us there is no God there; and through the 
grave and told us there is no resurrection there." It 
preaches a "gospel" without hope, and raises the black 
flag of despair over our graves, over our homies and 
hearts stricken with the desolation of death. The be- 



Foretoken of Final Resurrection. 253 

liever's creed is easier than the scientific or philosophic 
creed, and ten thousand times preferable — full of light 
and truth and joy. 

The Bible tells us that in heaven there is something 
better than gold; in hell something as real and more 
terrible than fire ; in Christ God is manifest in the flesh, 
and we behold in him the brightness of his glory and 
the express image of his person ; that in the grave there 
is hope, and beyond the grave there is glory and joy 
ineffable. This is our support. This is the light that 
breaks through from the other v^orld and fills our 
death chamber even with outbursts of rapturous song 
— that converts indeed our burial places into sleeping 
chambers from whence we look for the morning, and 
stretch our hands toward the further shore, waiting 
for the break of the coming day. 

God's Symbol and Signal. 

God has not left himself without witness and prophet 
concerning this mighty consummation of the centuries. 
He has set baptism as a kind of voice crying in the 
wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord — a kind 
of herald, going before the shout and before the voice 
of the archangel and before the trump of God. This 
is something of the honor which God has put upon this 
ordinance in his churches, and a manifestation some- 
what of its sublime grandeur in being brought into 
such significant relation to that greatest event which 
yet awaits the nations of the earth. It shines in the 



254 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

glory, and should be seen in the sublime and august 
character of that closing crowning day. 

Baptism is God's symbol and signal — a symbol of 
his power, when he raised Christ from the dead and 
when operating in human hearts he makes the dead 
live a new life, being raised up together with Christ 
and made to sit together with him in the heavenly 
places, and a signal of the achievements which grace 
shall yet accomplish. Alongside the black flag of 
despair, God has hung out this banner of hope that 
after all these years is still full of promise and assur- 
ance of final conquest and complete victory. Its voice 
is the voice of glad boasting: *'We are confident of 
this very thing, that he who began a good work in us 
will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus Christ." 

As long as baptism lasts and is administered in its 
original form and spirit and purpose, so long will God's 
symbol and signal cheer the hearts of his people. It 
is the only picture in all the universe of that glorious 
event. Neither man in art nor God in nature has given 
anything besides wherein the resurrection of the dead 
may be seen. You commit to the earth those whom 
you love, and turn away in sorrow and grief with the 
heart crying. How long, O Lord ? how long ? And then 
witness some simple, beautiful baptism, and hear in it 
the voice of God saying. This is my promise, my signal, 
my assurance for the future. 

I remember a charming picture, two pictures in one 
really, called the Soldier's Dream. It was a night after 
a day of hard fighting. Darkness was over all; and 



Foretoken of Final Resurrection, 255 

yet the moonlight was on the scene, and the low-burn- 
ing camp fire threw its dim rays over the sleeping 
soldier. He lay on the ground, worn with the day's 
conflict and covered all over with the soil of battle. 
There was gladness in his soul as was seen in the 
smiles of his face ; he was dreaming of home, of going 
home. Out to one side, and somewhat above, there 
was a picture of his dream. It stood out In full view, 
and under the sunlight of midday. In his dream the 
soldier, returning from the war, had reached his home, 
and had passed through the gate into the avenue which 
led to the house. Beyond the house the workmen in 
the harvest field saw him in the distance and w^ere 
waving their glad welcome to the returning master; 
the wife and children had seen him coming — had left 
the house — had passed out from the yard into the 
avenue — one child had outrun the others — had his arms 
about the father's neck and was in the father's em- 
brace. It was a beautiful, touching scene, in joyous 
contrast with the experience of war, and made the 
soldier smile in his slumber. 

I can hardly say that baptism is like that And yet 
like it in being a double picture — giving us two pic- 
tures in one. Here, in one single act we have two 
separate, distinct, and entirely different scenes. There 
on one side the immersion — picture of death and burial, 
and over it all darkness and sorrow. And there on the 
other side the emergence — resurrection in figure, fore- 
token of the resurrection in fact ; luminous and full of 
joy; the going home scene after the day of toil and 



256 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

battle. Baptism for this reason is often an exultant 
song. It is the brightness and thrill of what is coming, 
caught in the soul, and the darkness becomes radiant, 
and the song rapturous. 

That very baptism, administered there even under 
your own eyes, is both burial and resurrection, tells 
what God has done — how he raised up Jesus froni the 
new tomb in the garden, how he quickened and raised 
up the believer with him to live a new life. And then 
setting all hearts to the future, it tells in silent yet mar- 
velous way, what God will do concerning your own 
dead — how he will bring you and them together again 
in a glad resurrection life — how the Lord himself shall 
descend from heaven with a shout and with the voice 
of the archangel and with the trump of God — and how 
the dead in Christ shall rise, just as here we see them 
with out own eyes buried with Christ in baptism 
wherein also they are risen with him by the operation 
of God. 

How wonderful it all is ! How it appeals to the eye 
by its beauty of form and to the heart by its sublime 
meaning! The voice of baptism is full of music — ^the 
song which the angels sing. The song of triumph for 
the redeemed of the Lord — triumph in the resurrection 
of Jesus in the centuries gone, triumph for the golden 
glorious future in the resurrection of those who are 
his. And risen again and caught up to meet the Lord 
in the air, we shall be ever with the Lord. Then 
shall come to pass the saying that is written : Death is 
sv/allowed up in victory. Thanks be unto God — let 



Foretoken of Final Resurrection, 257 

all the angels, all the redeemed host, let heaven and 
nature sing — thanks be unto God, who giveth us the 
victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. To him be- 
long honor and power and glory and dominion for- 
ever and ever. 

"Ten thousand times ten thousand, 

In sparkling raiment bright, 
The armies of the ransomed saints 

Throng up the steeps of light; 
'Tis finished, all is finished, 

Their fight ^ with death and sin ; 
Fling open wide the golden gates, 

And let the victors in. 

*'What rush of hallelujahs 

Fills all the earth and sky ! 
What ringing of a thousand harps 

Bespeaks the triumph nigh ! 
Oh day, for which creation 

And all its tribes were made ! 
Oh joy, for all its former woes 

A thousand- fold repaid! 

"Oh then, what rapturous greetings 
On Canaan's happy shore ! 
What knitting severed friendships up, 

Where partings are no more ! 
Then eyes with joy shall sparkle, 
That brimmed with tears of late; 
Orphans no longer fatherless, 
Nor widows desolate." 
17 



CHAPTER XIV. 

THREE VISIONS OF THE SON OF MAN. 

WE come now to the close of this book and 
have an outlook for the future. It is the 
outlook of a faith which, nothing daunted 
by conflicts many and fierce, discerns in the field of its 
vision the crowning glory of the Son of man. His 
word is the conquering word of the ages, and leads on 
from victory unto victory, until every foe of him and 
his shall be vanquished. And then he shall reign su- 
preme as is his right to reign. And now having as 
a background the eternal Sonship with its announce- 
ment at the Jordan, we have three visions of the Son 
of man, as seen by Stephen, as seen by Saul of Tarsus, 
and as seen by John on the Isle of Patmos. 

"Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee and was baptized 
of John in the Jordan ; and straightway coming up out of 
the water he saw the heavens rent asunder and the Spirit 
as a dove descending upon him ; and a voice came out of 
the heavens, Thou art my beloved Son, in thee I am well 
pleased." (Mark i: 9-11.) 

''God . . . hath spoken unto us by his Son, . . . 
who, being the brightness of his glory, and the ex- 
press image of his person, and upholding all things by 
the v^ord of his power, when he had by himself purged 
our si'ns, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on 
high." (Heb. I : i, 2.) 

"Stephen, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked up stead- 
fastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus 
(358) 



Three Visions of the Son of Man, 259 

standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I 
see the heavens open, and the Son of man standing on the 
right hand of God." (Acts 7: 55, 56.) 

''At midday, O king, I saw in the way a light from 
heaven, above the brightness of the sun, shining about me. 
. . . And I heard a voice saying unto me, Saul, 
Saul, why persecutest thou me? ... I answered, 
Who art thou, Lord? And he said, I am Jesus whom 
thou persecutest. . . . Whereupon, King Agrippa, I 
was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision." (Acts 26: 
I3-I9.) 

"I was m the Spirit on the Lord's day, and heard 
behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet. ... I 
turned to see the voice that spake with me, and being 
turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks ; and in the midst 
of the seven candlesticks one like unto the Son of man. 
. . . And his countenance was as the sun shineth in 
his strength. And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as 
dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying unto 
me. Fear not: I am the first and the last, I am he that 
liveth and was dead: And, behold, I am alive for ever- 
more, Amen: and have the keys of hell and of death." 
(Rev. i: 10-17.) 

These Scriptures, covering an immense range of 
view and vast difference of conditions, are brought 
together for the coronation of Jesus of Nazareth. 
Emphasize the following contrasts : Son of God — Son 
of man; the brightness of the Father's glory and the 
express image of his person — yet coming from his 
humble home in Nazareth of Galilee; at the Jordan — 
at the right hand of God ; baptized in the river — having 
purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the 
Majesty on high. 

These contrasts and apparent contradictions, uniting 
in one person, show his twofold nature as the God-man, 
and his twofold sphere of operation, and his unbroken 



26o Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

continuity of person and mission and purpose. "Thou 
shalt call his name Jesus/' is the word which the angel 
brought from heaven, for he shall save his people 
from their sins — the same yesterday, today, and for- 
ever. ''And we see Jesus, who was made a little lower 
than the angels, for the suffering of death crowned 
with glory and honor.'/ 

Christ the Lord was born of a woman, as announced 
by the angels to the shepherds watching in the field, 
and so became the Son of man and the Saviour of 
sinners; Christ the Lord was baptized in the Jordan 
and entered on his public ministry; Christ the Lord, 
through the shedding of his blood by death on the 
cross, purged our sins ; Christ the Lord, having entered 
within the veil with the blood of the everlasting cove- 
nant, is our Intercessor at the right hand of God. 

The three visions of the Son of man come to a 
focus on his Person. They present him in his activities 
after his return to the glory which he had with the 
Father before the world was. They emphasize in a 
glorious and awe-inspiring picture his human sonship, 
with his divine and eternal sonship going before and 
giving surpassing splendor to his Person and efficiency 
to his work. 

As seen by Stephen, the Son of man is at the right 
hand of God — the base of his operations; standing at 
the right hand of God — an attitude of solicitous con- 
cern and opening the way of escape for his servant, 
suffering violence at the hands of men. 

As seen by Saul of Tarsus on the way to Damascus, 



Three Visions of the Son of Man. 261 

the Son of man has come afield as Saviour, rescuing 
a sinner bent on death. The apprehension is sudden, 
overpowering with splendor, and complete in its effec- 
tiveness. Henceforth Saul, the blasphemer of the Lord 
and persecutor of the Lord's disciples, should shine as 
a trophy in the diadem of his Lord. 

As John saw him on Patmos, the Son of man was 
among the churches inspecting, commending, correct- 
ing, and for their protection. He was there perfecting 
the work he had begun, and making the churches what 
they should be as his witnesses on the earth. 

In all three visions he was the same — Jesus the Son 
of man clothed with ineffable brightness; the same as 
when on earth — at Nazareth, at the Jordan, in the 
temptation, as the great teacher among men, as when 
forgiving sins, as ministering to the suffering, as when 
he died on the cross and rose again. In becoming 
human he had lost nothing of his divine nature, and in 
returning to his rightful place in the heavens he carried 
with him his human nature — a wonderful example of 
humanity glorified at the right hand of God, a kind of 
firstfruits of the plenteous golden harvest that will 
come hereafter. 

Baptism as Loyalty to Our Lord. 

To Stephen the Son of man was Lord to whom he 
could commit his soul in the supreme moment of death, 
even tragic death; to Saul of Tarsus the Son of man 
was at once Jesus of Nazareth and Lord to whom he 
gave his heart in salvation and his life in devout, he- 



262 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

roic service ; to John the Son of man, in new and over- 
powering glory to his eyes, was his rightful Lord, 
whose message he would hear and keep in all faithful- 
ness. Throughout the three visions heaven and earth 
were in touch, and the glory of the Lord made lumi- 
nous the loyalty of the servants. 

But what has all this to do with baptism, and what 
is the meaning of its introduction here? Nothing — or 
much, according to the estimate one puts upon bap- 
tism as an ordinance of our Lord's appointment, and 
as an expression of our relation to him. 

The aim throughout these pages has been to set 
baptism among the great doctrines ; to connect it with 
that greatest of all events in history — our Lord's resur- 
rection; to hold it as the one masterful expression of 
the loftiest and noblest heart-experience; to set it out 
as one of the only two ordinances committed by our 
Lord to his churches. All this has been done with the 
purpose of giving baptism its rightful place, and of 
illustrating its moral dignity. 

Christ glorified baptism, and baptism when rightly 
observed has glorified Christ through all the ages. It 
was no accident that his divine sonship was announced 
in his baptism. It was intentional and a part of the 
prearranged plan and purpose. For John came bap- 
tizing that the Son might be made manifest to Israel. 
And every baptism since declares for his sonship, and 
also for the joint sonship and joint heirship of all who 
are in him. 

The supreme point in the world of religious thought 



Three Visions of the Son of Man, 263 

today — certainly in Christian Apologetics and almost 
as certainly in Christian living — is the question of the 
Person of Christ and of our loyalty to him. Loyalty 
is a warm-hearted feeling of fidelity and obedience to 
a sovereign. It is stronger than allegiance, and comes 
from a nobler, loftier sentiment. It is obedience to 
the law of love. Love is the most powerful compul- 
sion and makes obedience one's meat and drink, his 
delight and joy. Baptism as a law in Christ's kingdom, 
is at once test and expression of loyalty. While typi- 
fying Christ's sonship it typifies also his lordship. It 
declares before all the world that we are loyal to Christ 
as King of kings and Lord of lords. Loyalty is the 
response of the heart and life to his call and his com- 
mandments. Som.e one has said: "The first great 
lesson is obedience ; the second great lesson is to keep 
obedience from becoming slavery." And that is loy- 
alty — true to the form without becoming a formalist. 

The New Testament Emphasis. 

Baptism as a New Testament law appeals to the 
loyal conscience and convictions. Its meaning more- 
over, as an ordinance, signalizes and gives emphasis to 
some of the greatest doctrines in the system. Though 
of minor intrinsic worth, it is yet of imperative im- 
portance, and even momentous as the New Testament 
emphasis of doctrines concerning Christ in his Person 
and relation to us. Baptism cannot suffer violence 
without doing violence also to these doctrines. It is 



264 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

the casket of these doctrines, and because of its treasure 
takes something of their worth and merit and high 
place in the kingdom of truth. 

The surrender of doctrine never comes single- 
handed. The going of one makes way for the going 
of another. Modifying one or corrupting one will 
surely lead to modifying and corrupting others. The 
removal of one less important, or its displacement in 
the system, may loosen the very foundations of doc- 
trines most vital and fundamental. Faithfulness and 
purity of each are the only safety for all. The New 
Testament is a unit in its doctrines and ordinances, and 
the foundations will remain sure only as these doc- 
trines and ordinances are kept inviolate in their testi- 
mony for the Son of man. 

The Baptist Review and Expositor^' contained in 
recent issues two masterful and timely articles written 
one by Dr. E. H. Johnson, of Crozer Seminary, the 
other by Dr. James Orr, of Scotland. The great 
thought of these articles I should like in some modest 
way, simply by reference if not otherwise, to incorpo- 
rate in the line of thought running all through these 
pages. Dr. Orr advocates the lordship of Jesus; Dr. 
Johnson in briUiant, characteristic style, emphasizes 
lordship and loyalty — lordship in the King, loyalty in 
the disciple. The two articles supplement and 
buttress each other; the two great truths merge into 
each other, and as one stands so will the other. 

* Published quarterly by the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, 
at Louisville, Ky. 



Three Visions of the Son of Man. 265 

A few sentences from Dr. Johnson, though discon- 
nected, will show in part his point of view : 

"The New Testament gives us Christ. . . . The 
Christ of history remains the Christ of the New Testa- 
ment. ... A proper relation is one of loyalty on 
the part of the individual. The lordship of Christ, the 
loyalty of Christians sets forth, as well as formula may, 
what Baptists ought to stand for. Such an attitude may 
be taken by any Christian denomination. . . . Our 
loyalty to Christ is practically loyalty to the New Testa- 
ment. 

'The lordship of Christ and the loyalty of Christians 
furnish the starting point for Baptists in our day. . . . 
His commands are our laws. Loyalty is love for the law- 
giver. Loyalty to Christ is the love which he describes 
when he said, He that hath my commandments and keep- 
eth them, he It is that loveth me. That Christ makes a 
requirement is reason enough to a loyal heart for obedi- 
ence. ... 

"Loyalty to him requires us to hold the highest view of 
his person and of his work. ... A life ruled by 
loyalty to Christ as Lord, through acceptance of Christ 
as Redeemer. Christ is Lord, let us be loyal.'* 

The cry is sometimes made, We need Christ, and not 
a book; that we must needs go back to Christ rather 
than to the Bible. That sounds well, and has the ring 
of doing honor to Christ, but in fact is absurd and 
misleading. It is impossible to know Christ at all, 
except through the New Testament, either as we read 
it for ourselves or hear through others. The New 
Testament is "written that ye might believe that Jesus 
is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye 
might have life through his name." (John 20: 31.) 

The Bible, with special emphasis upon the New Tes- 
tament, is our guide, our only guide for doctrine and 



266 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

duty, for belief and life. Abandon the New Testament 
and we would soon be without Christ. Break on the 
New Testament in one point, either doctrine or ordi- 
nance, and others will surely follow. "Loyalty to 
Christ is practically loyalty to the New Testament"— 
so also loyalty to the New Testament is loyalty to 
Christ. 

We cannot discriminate between the lawgiver and 
his law. Love for the one requires obedience to the 
other. Christ stands back of his ordinances and puts 
into them the fullness of his authority. They are his 
law, and loyalty to them is loyalty to him. A break 
here is sure to make a break elsewhere. Baptism in 
its doctrine, and as an act of obedience, is a kind of 
outpost for the citadel of truth. Fidelity here, loyalty 
here is of immense and pressing importance. 

Surely there are great dangers ahead when baptism 
can be undervalued, even set aside altogether on the 
ground of its being *'only a command." When the 
pickets have been captured or betrayed or prove trait- 
orous, we know not what may follow. Baptism is set 
for the high task of standing for lordship in the Lord 
and loyalty in the believer, and is given this place of 
distinction and rank in the New Testament among the 
great doctrines. 

Baptism is the one act in which the believer imper- 
sonates his Lord in doing the very thing his Lord did ; 
the one act in which he commemorates in picture and 
emblem the resurrection of his Lord ; the one act which 
gives an outward expression of what has been wrought 



Three Visions of the Son of Man. 267 

in his own heart by the power of his Lord; it is the 
one act which foreshows in picture the coming event 
which his Lord shall bring in when he comes again 
and the dead are raised up by the word of his power ! 
We put great honor upon baptism, because therein 
we honor our Lord and declare our loyalty to him. 
He has intrusted us with casket and jewel; we will 
stand faithful to the casket, lest in its loss we lose also 
the jewel. 

We Worship Him in Baptism. 

The Son of man was first the Son of God. Being 
the Son of God, he became the Son of man that he 
might save the sons of men. 

'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was 
with God, and the Word was God. . . . And the 
Word became flesh and dwelt among us (and we beheld 
his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father), 
full of grace and truth/* (John i : i, 14.) 

''God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under 
the law, to redeem them that are under the law, that we 
might receive the adoption of sons/' (Gal. 4: 4, 5.) 

In emphasizing and adjusting the manifold relation 
of Christ — as King, Priest, Prophet, Saviour, Teacher 
— we must not forget that first and foremost comes his 
Divinity in character and his Deity in Person! This 
is the underglrding of all else, giving support and 
effectiveness. It was as a Son born that he was called 
'Wonderful, Counselor, the Mighty God, the Ever- 
lasting Father, the Prince of Peace." Because he is 
God he is ''the Mighty to save," and "saves unto the 



268 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

uttermost all who come unto God through him." "In 
him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily," 
and we are complete in him, and he is our all and in all, 
our wisdom and righteousness, our sanctification and 
redemption. "I am crucified with Christ. ... I 
live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and 
gave himself for me." (Gal. 2: 20.) 

Baptism as a ceremony is an act of worship. This 
makes the spirit of baptism; and makes perhaps its 
richest essence, for sincere, devout worship is the high- 
est possible outgoing of the human soul. God has set 
the ordinance for noble service and given it exalted 
rank among the commandments of our Lord. It ap- 
peals strongly to the hearts of those who love, and 
speaks wonderful things for their joy. In its simple 
administration it often becomes a rapturous song. The 
spirit that comes into genuine baptism is the same in 
kind as the spirit of the angels as they worship around 
the throne and find their highest delight in doing the 
will of God. 

Baptism stands for Christ, expressing not only loy- 
alty in our obedience to him as King, but also devout, 
joyous worship of him as Lord. Here in this simple 
act we worship God — can worship him in spirit and in 
truth — worship God in the Unity of his Person and 
Trinity of his Being. Here we worship Father, Son, 
and Holy Spirit as really as when we sing the great 
Doxology. Here we declare our personal love and 
loyalty and devotion and worship of the Son of man, 
declare for him as Lord and God — as our Lord and 



Three Visions of the Son of Man. 269 

our God — as ''my Lord and my God/' and worship 
him in the beauty of hoHness. 

The ordinance comes to this loftier view and service, 
and becomes more beautiful in its moral greatness as 
we recognize its larger, richer meaning. It speaks 
for the Son of man, and speaks for him as the Son of 
God; expresses our love for him as Saviour, our loy- 
alty to him as King, and our worship of him as God. 
And so baptism, administered as he gave it, in form 
and spirit and purpose, is a plea always for the great 
doctrine of the Divinity of Jesus. 

It serves in this simple but effective way to main- 
tain this glorious truth among the churches and before 
the world. To lose baptism, or in any way to weaken 
or mar its force, is to lose its meaning; and in losing 
its meaning we lose its witness for the divine char- 
acter of Jesus and the mighty things which God has 
wrought through him. It is indeed only an ordinance, 
but what wonderful things it holds within itself, and 
how lofty and beautiful is the service which it renders 
among the people of God! It is the enfoldmient of 
much of the very truth of God and the embodiment of 
the noblest and mightiest experiences of the human 
heart. A key may not be of great value, but the key 
to the Bank of England would be defended at any cost 
by the armies of the Empire. 

Conflict Concerning His Person. 

The conflict is against the Deity of Jesus. This basal 
doctrine of the Christian system, a doctrine funda- 



270 Moral Dignity of Baptis^n, 

mental and vital to every human interest in time and 
eternity, is assailed. The Son of God holds the keys 
of hell and death. 

In the article already mentioned Dr. Orr makes a 
strong defense for the Divinity of Jesus. He puts 
himself in the field of Christian Apologetics and at the 
front of the conflict in a masterful way. Devout, gifted, 
trained in the best schools, he writes as one who has 
no doubts to answer for himself, and from the fullness 
and conviction of his heart. There is no mistaking 
the conflict, either as to its fierceness or its outcome. 
In a clear and powerful method he arraigns the "higher 
critics" in their dealing with the life and character of 
our Lord, and makes against their position the five- 
fold indictment, that it : 

1. "Is a decisive break with historic Christianity." 

2. *'Is a break fatal to the life and hope of the church." 

3. "Leaves the world without the gospel that it needs." 

4. "Destroys the basis of certainty in religion." 

5. "Is not tenable, logically or historically." 

This is a severe arraignment, and given in a most 
telling way. These five words are dismal words — 
decisive break, fatal to life and hope, leaves the world 
hopeless in its needs, destroys the basis, is not tenable. 
They hang around the human life like the black drapery 
of the carriage in which the dead ride to the grave. It 
is black, all black, and black beyond compare. And 
this is offered a world in sin and suffering and want, 
in place of the simple story that is told us in the Book 
of Life. 



Three Visions of the Son of Man. 271 

As showing the results to which that theory brings 
us, and how it strips our Lord of his rightful robes of 
royalty, and leaves us helpless with nothing to hope 
for, Dr. Orr quotes the following eloquent words from 
Dr. Martineau in his "Loss and Gain in Recent The- 
ology :" 

"From the Person of Jesus everything official, attached 
to Him by evangelists or divines, has fallen away; when 
they put such false robes on Him they were but leading 
Him to death. The pomp of royal lineage and fulfilled 
prediction, the prerogative of King, of Priest, of Judge, 
the Advent with retinue of angels on the clouds of heaven, 
are to us mere deforming investitures, misplaced, like 
court dresses, on the 'spirits of the just,' and He is simply 
the Divine Flower of humanity, blossoming after ages of 
spiritual growth — the realized possibility of life in God. 

"All that has been added to that real historic scene — the 
angels that stand round his birth, and the fiend that tempts 
his youth; the dignities that await his future — the throne, 
the trumpet, the assize, the bar of judgment; with all 
the apocalyptic splendors and terrors that ensue — Hades 
and the Crystal Sea, Paradise and the Infernal Gulf, 
nay, the very boundary walls of the Cosmic panorama that 
contain these things, have for us utterly melted away and 
left us amid the infinite space and the silent stars.'* 

It has been apparent for several years that we are 
coming into this conflict concerning the Deity of Jesus. 
Shall we still call him ^^my Lord and my God" in de- 
vout and joyous worship, or shall we count him simply 
man with no higher or other nature than that wherein 
we ourselves were born? For my part, I rather wel- 
come the conflict. It will give the doctrine new vital- 
ity in our belief, and new supremacy in the world of 
thought. A great discussion of a great doctrine seldom 
works evil and often brings much good. A doctrine^ 



2^2 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

even a really great doctrine, may lose its hold upon us 
by our merely acquiescing in it or simply taking it for 
granted. Herein we are suffering now for want of 
credal force. Creeds are weak and useless save as the 
expression of convictions born of the heart and mind. 

Baptism Set for His Defence. 

No one can rob us of truth or destroy its power or 
mar its beauty, if we ourselves hold it for ourselves. 
Our own experience of great doctrines is our best and 
mightiest safeguard. The experience of Thomas will 
always bring afresh the conviction of Thomas, "My 
Lord and my God.'' God will bring good out of evil 
in this conflict. The cross and crucifixion were only 
three days from the empty tomb and the resurrection 
of Jesus. If the destructive critics bring on the hour 
of darkness and make us feel as Mary did in the garden 
— "they have taken away my Lord, and I know not 
where they have laid him" — yet even then we may be 
closer than we dream to a new revelation of him in his 
risen glory and to the joyous outburst from our hearts, 
Rabboni, Rabboni ! 

It is ours to cultivate by whatever methods we can 
a profound and richer sense of his Divinity — of his 
Sonship and Godhead — of his being to our heart King 
of kings and Lord of lords. We forget how much 
may be done to cultivate and enlarge our faith in a 
great doctrine, to "grow In grace and in the knowl- 
edge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ," And 



• Three Visions of the Son of Man. 273 

baptism when rightly observed is an excellent means 
to this end, and very effective as an educational force 
training us in the great doctrines. It puts our Lord 
before us in wonderful fashion, and in those very 
things which declare his name and power and honor 
and dominion. It uncovers in a marvelous way his 
mightiest achievement in which he was declared to be 
the Son of God with power by the resurrection from 
the dead, and is his witness unto the end of the ages. 

I have on purpose set the ordinance in the midst of 
this conflict. Indeed, our Lord himself has set it here 
as a witness for himself and as a token of his wondrous 
grace. It will do valiant and invaluable service if we 
maintain it as the embodiment and expression of the 
great truths concerning him and his relation to his 
people. As long as there are obedient and worshipful 
hearts following our Lord in baptism, so long will the 
world hear the song of coronation. Baptism is itself 
an education in the noblest doctrines, and has really 
great and instructive doctrinal value. The baptismal 
scene is full of wonderful lessons. It expresses the 
great experiences of human hearts and tells with power 
the glorious facts of redemption as they have wrought 
themselves into human convictions, hopes and joys. 

And, after all, the strongest defense of the faith is 
found in what one has felt in his heart of the grace of 
God. Thomas had no more doubt after his experience 
on that memorable evening when his Lord met him 
eight days after the resurrection ; the two disciples who 
went away to Emmaus doubted no more when they 

18 



274 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

had seen the Lord. And those who feel now the touch 
in their hearts of the risen Christ have no doubt as to 
his resurrection or as to his saving power. Personal 
salvation sets aside all gainsayers and stands out stoutly 
for our Lord and Saviour. 

Illustrations of His Saving Power. 

I remember two occasions of thrilling interest and 
powerful illustrative force. They both occurred at 
Nashville in the Tabernacle, which accommodates 
four or five thousand people, and was thronged both 
times to its utmost capacity. In the first Mr. D. L. 
Moody was the speaker, and his theme was the Divinity 
of Jesus. He emphasized the incomparable life as told 
in the Gospels; pointed out the world's awful need of 
a Divine Saviour, one Mighty to save; told what he 
himself had experienced of the saving power of the 
Lord Jesus, and related what he had witnessed in 
others of that wondrous grace which saves unto the 
uttermost. It was a wonderful discourse even for the 
great evangelist — a simple, straightforward testimony 
of what he knew, and of what he knew that he knew. 
His soul glowed as he told with rapturous joy of the 
work of grace which comes from the Divine Saviour, 
and the great audience was moved by the mighty word, 
so simple and yet so powerful. 

The other occasion was even more marked in some 
respects. The speaker was Judge George R. Sage, of 
the United States District Court. He had come from 
Cincinnati to try some special cases in the court at 



Three Visions of the Son of Man. 275 

Nashville, and had won a great place in the communi- 
ty by his bearing both on the bench and in private, and 
was made the guest of honor in many places of social 
distinction. 

He was a quiet, devout, Christian man, and Sunday 
after Sunday worshiped at the First Baptist Church. 
In my study one morning (I was then pastor of the 
First Church) he said in a modest way that he wanted 
to deliver a lecture in Nashville on "Why God Doesn't 
Kill the Devil/' The subject startled me, and yet my 
confidence in Judge Sage made me feel that any sub- 
ject would be safe in his hands. In due time the 
lecture came. It had been widely advertised, and the 
great auditorium was filed to the utmost; perhaps the 
most brilliant assemblage in some respects that ever 
gathered there, certainly the most brilliant audience 
that Nashville could furnish — business men, educa- 
tors, professional men, those from high social life, vast 
numbers of those from the humbler walks — all wonder- 
ing what such a man would do with such a theme. 

Judge Sage was introduced; appeared in full even- 
ing dress, quiet, unassuming, and yet bearing in his 
face the marks of intense earnestness; walked to the 
speaker's desk and (without notes, even, as I recall) 
stood before that vast audience as about to deliver an 
opinion in a case where life and death were in the 
balance. The audience hushed in stillness to catch his 
first word. He simply talked, but oh, what talking it 
was ! His words in conversational tone could be heard 
throughout the large hall. 



276 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

The purpose of the lecture was soon uncovered, and 
proved to be a discussion o£ the Doctrine of Evil, and 
why God permits sin and suffering ; a clear, profound, 
philosophical argument from first to last, and the ablest 
statement I have ever heard of this confessedly difficult 
problem. For more than two hours the audience hung 
on the words of the distinguished jurist, never once 
slackened in interest, but followed him to the end. It 
was a triumph both in speaking and in listening. 

The speaker throughout, in reverent and devout 
simplicity, exalted God in his mighty and sovereign 
grace and providence, and came in his discussion to 
speak of the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness. It 
became necessary to speak of the divine Sonship, the 
very Godhead of Jesus, in ''whom dwelt all the full- 
ness of the Godhead bodily," as the background for 
presenting his full humanity. It was a supreme mo- 
ment. The speaker seemed leading us into the Holy 
of Holies, and in spirit uncovered as Moses before the 
mystery of the burning bush. In words of marvelous 
power he stated his belief in the true Deity of Jesus, 
his abiding faith in him as a personal Saviour, his un- 
clouded conviction and joyous worship of him as God. 
For fifteen minutes he set out the great doctrine of his 
Divinity in a clear and masterful statement. The ef- 
fect was remarkable; the vast audience almost caught 
its breath to listen as the great hearted man, stepping 
to the front of the platform, led us into the coronation 
moment. My soul even now fairly tingles in the recol- 
lection of that moment when we had a new vision of 



Three Visions of the Son of Man. 277 

the Son of man clothed with honor and glory and do- 
minion at the right hand of the Majesty on high. 



An Experimental Conception. 

These two occasions followed close one on the other. 
The two men on different lines swept on to the same 
glorious conclusion. Both of them died shortly after 
and went home to meet their King. Welcomed into 
his presence and beholding the glory which he had 
with the Father before the foundation of the world, 
they surely felt that the half had never been told, and 
worshiped him there as they had worshiped him here, 
King of kings and Lord of lords. 

These incidents show the reality and power and joy 
of an experimental conception of a great fact in its 
doctrinal significance. With these two men Jesus in 
person was their Lord ; the Christ who was once dead, 
but is now alive and for evermore at the right hand 
of God; the Son of man in the fullness of his human 
nature, but also the Son of God transcendent in his 
Divine nature and grace and saving power. They 
held the great doctrine of the essential Deity of Jesus 
not only from having been taught, but also from their 
individual experience of its fact and power in their 
hearts. And this evidence from experience is the most 
powerful and conclusive and convincing of all evidence. 

These two examples, though illustrious and of mani- 
fest power, are not exceptional. They are in line of a 
succession that reaches back to the Apostles, and be- 



278 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

yond the Apostles. "We speak that we do know and 
testify that which we have seen." We can stand in 
Hne with them. He who sought the two disciples go- 
ing away to Emmaus and Thomas in the despair of 
disbelief, is not far from every one of us. It is ours 
to walk with him among the candlesticks, to behold 
him in his glory at the right hand of the throne of 
God, to see him and hear his call as we go the high- 
ways of life. Finding him and his finding us, is the 
end of controversy. This is the stronghold for safety, 
and the rock of defense in the fierceness of the conflict. 
That man has his feet on the eternal rock who can 
say with Mary, Rabboni, Rabboni, or with Thomas, 
My Lord and my God, or with prophet and apostle, 
"I believe, and therefore have I spoken." For "the 
light of the glorious Gospel of Christ, who is the image 
of God," has come upon him as upon Saul of Tarsus. 
"God, who commanded the light to shine out of dark- 
ness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of 
the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus 
Christ." This gives us everlasting certainties, and 
creates a certitude which cannot be shaken — "steadfast, 
unmoved, and immovable." 

The Son of Man's Final Triumph. 

"Became obedient unto death, even the death of the 
cross. Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him and 
given him a name which is above every name; that at 
the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in 
heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth; 
and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is 
Lord to the glory of God the Father/' (Phil. 2: 8-11.) 



Three Visions of the Son of Man. 279 

"His countenance was as the sun shining in his strength. 
And when I saw him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he 
laid his right hand upon me, saying unto me, Fear not; 
I am the first and the last, I am he that liveth, and was 
dead ; and, behold, I am alive for evermore. Amen : And 
have the keys of hell and death/' 

The sublime thought of the final triumph of the 
Son of man has come to the front again and again in 
these pages, and found welcome expression, sometimes 
in one setting, sometimes in another. The word tri- 
umph has been the watchword of the centuries — a 
word full of history and full also of prophetic vision. 
It is in the heart and on the lips of the redeemed 
host, and they caught it from their Lord who ascended 
on high leading captivity captive. It enters into their 
■service, and is the key note of their songs of worship. 

Oh, that wondrous, wondrous word that has come 
down from Patmos as he walked among the churches 
in his glory and all conquering power ! I am he that 
liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for ever- 
more, and have the keys of hell and death. It uncovers 
in one glorious word the final triumph of the redeemed 
when death and the grave shall have passed as an ex- 
perience, and there shall be no more death. 

His very triumph, as well as theirs, lies in his being 
the Son of man, and comes by virtue of his power in 
being the Son of God. And these two mighty facts 
of his being and character he put into his ordinance, 
and in this embodiment gave them to his people as his 
living witness among men. It was a mighty moment 
in the world's history when at his baptism in the Jordan 



28o Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

the Son of man, fresh from Mary's humble home at 
Nazareth, was announced by the voice from heaven as 
the Son of God. And that mighty moment has its 
counterpart, or its echo with more or less of power, in 
the baptism of today as the believer in that simple yet 
sublime way declares for him both as Son of man and 
Son of God. 

These pages opened with Jesus at the Jordan, and 
close with him at the right hand of the Majesty on 
high. He was Son of God as he was baptized in the 
river, in figure of his burial and resurrection, and now 
he is Son of man at his Father's right hand in glory. 
He has the same wonderful story of the Jordan re- 
peated over and over again, as the years and centuries 
go by, in the public act of those who are buried with 
him in baptism wherein they are also risen with him. 
And in every administration of the ordinance we may 
hear over again that word from Patmos — I was dead, 
and am alive again for evermore — ^telling the glorious 
work of the past and foretelling the oncoming of the 
day when he shall be crowned King of nations as he 
is now King of saints. Baptism is the drum-beat of 
the armies of the Lord marching to victory — conquer- 
ing and to conquer. 

Jesus is Son of God and Son of man. Operating 
from his base at the right hand of the throne of God, 
and through the agencies which he has appointed, the 
Son of man is moving for the consummation of his 
glorious work. He is always the same, whether on 
earth or in heaven, whether at the right hand of God 



Three Visions of the Son of Man. 281 

as Stephen saw him, or In the field as Saul of Tarsus 
saw him, or among the churches as John saw him 
arrayed in splendor and power. We gladly give our 
hearts to him as his, and hail him with joy as ours; 
we hail him as our Saviour, our King, our Lord, and 
earnestly pray for the speedy oncoming and incoming 
of his kingdom, and for the universal coronation, when 
every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess 
that he is Lord to the glory of God the Father. 

All hail the power of Jesus' name, 

Let angels prostrate fall; 
Bring forth the royal diadem, 

And crown Him Lord of all. 

Let every klndred,^ every tribe. 

On this terrestrial ball, 
To Him all majesty ascribe, 

And crown Him Lord of alL 

Oh that, with yonder sacred throng, 

We at His feet may fall ! 
We'll join the everlasting song. 

And crown Him Lord of all. 



Praise with a Prayer. 

Lord Jesus, thou art glorious in holiness, fearful in 
praises, doing wonders. Thou art our salvation, our 
joy, our song, our all and in all. 

This book is brought to thee as a tribute of love and 
as a contribution of service. I am happy in its comple- 
tion, and here record my gratitude to thee for life and 
health and opportunity to say this word for thy won- 
drous work. O, use it for thy glory ! May it be over- 



282 Moral Dignity of Baptism. 

ruled and blessed, and in every way made to tell for 
the furtherance of the Gospel of thy grace. May it 
help people everywhere to a larger view and holier love 
of the ordinances of thy house. 

Grant, O Lord, a special blessing upon the great 
people, who are called by thy name, and for whom I 
have ventured to speak. Thou hast given them thy 
favor in large measure and in many ways. O, do for 
them yet larger things, that they may do larger things 
for thee! Help us to be true to thee — faithful and 
loyal in all things. May we be present, O Lord Jesus, 
in thy great coronation day. Help us, O, help us, for 
thy coronation now in our hearts. 

"O, Thou who in Jordan didst bow Thy meek head, 
And 'whelmed in our sorrow, didst sink to the dead, 
Then rose from the darkness to glory above, 
And claimed for Thy chosen the kingdom of love ; 

"O Jesus,^ our Saviour, O Jesus, our Lord, 
By the life of Thy passion, the grace of Thy word, 
Accept us, redeem us, dwell ever within, 
To keep, by Thy Spirit, our spirits from sin; 

"Thy footsteps we follow, to bow in the tide. 
And are buried with Thee in the death Thou hast died; 
Then wake in Thy likeness to walk in the way 
That brightens and brightens to shadowless day/' 

'Amen. 



DEC 26 1905 



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